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COPHHGHT DEPOSIT. 



A BRIEF HISTORY OF 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN 
EXPLORATION 

WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE 

EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK 

BY 

REUBEN GOLD THWAITES 

AUTHOR OF DANIEL BOONE, FATHER MARQUETTE, ON THE STORIED OHIO 

THE COLONIES, ETC. ; EDITOR OF JESUIT RELATIONS, CHRONICLES 

OF BORDER WARFARE, HENNEPIN' S NEW DISCOVERY, ETC. 

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 




NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1904 



T- 



LIBRAE o* CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

JAN 27 1904 

V" Copyright Entry . 



•COPTBIGHT, 1904, BY 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



Published February, 190% 



/ 



Wqt expansion 

of tl)e ftepubitc 

Series 



A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROCKY 
MOUNTAIN EXPLORATION 



3 to 



APPLE-TONS' 

Expansion o! the Republic Series 

Each volume nmo. Illustrated. $1.25 net 
Postage, 12 cents additional 

The History of the Louisiana Purchase 

By James K. Hosmer, Ph.D., LL.D. 
Ohio and Her Western Reserve 

By Alfred Mathews. 

The History of Puerto Rico 

By R. A. Van Middeldyk. With an introduction, 
etc., by Prof. Martin G. Brumbaugh. 

Steps in the Expansion of Our Territory 

By Oscar Phelps Austin, Chief of the Bureau of 
Statistics, Treasury Department. 

Rocky Mountain Exploration 

By Reuben Gold Thwaites. 

The Conquest of the Southwest 

By Cyrus Townsend Brady, Author of " Paul Jones" 
in the Great Commanders Series. In preparation. 

The Purcha.se of Alaska. 

By Oscar Phelps Austin, Chief of the Bureau of 
Statistics, Treasury Department. In preparation. 

Proposed Volumes 
The Settlement of the Pacific Coast 
The Founding of Chicago and the Development 

of the Middle West 
John Brown and the Troubles in Kansas 



D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK 




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Go 
JOHN JOHNSTON, LL. D. 

FOR TWELVE YEARS PRESIDENT OF THE WIS- 
CONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND SOMETIME 
PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF 
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, THIS LIT- 
TLE BOOK OF WESTERN ADVENTURE IS 
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND 

THE AUTHOR 



PEEFACE 



It is a long stretch of fruitful years, from 
Balboa's crossing in Darien to the completion 
of the transcontinental railways in the United 
States. Adequately to treat of Rocky Moun- 
tain Exploration as a whole would require 
a series of bulky volumes. When, therefore, 
one is asked to tell of the multitude of ad- 
venturous expeditions incident to the scaling 
of the continental divide, within the limits of 
one small book, the task largely resolves itself 
into the recitation of a bead-roll of principal 
events. 

And yet the story seems worth telling, 
even with such restrictions. The records of 
most, if not all, of the enterprises herein re- 
lated are somewhere accessible in print, and 
some of them have been given a popular dress. 
But nowhere else, so far as I know, has the 
entire range been treated in connected form 

vii 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

within the covers of a single volume. It 
is sincerely hoped that this catalogue of 
events may prove sufficiently readable, to in- 
spire youth with adequate appreciation of 
what has been dared and done for them by 
their predecessors upon the stage. The deeds 
of Lewis and Clark, Pike, Long, Fremont, 
and their compeers, will always stir the 
blood of those who love to read of noble 
adventure in the public cause. Hardly less 
thrilling and inspiring are the daring ex- 
ploits of those eminent Canadian explorers, 
Verendrye, McKenzie, Thompson, and Fraser. 
Far more space within this book is de- 
voted to the experiences of Lewis and Clark 
than to those of any others in the roll of 
American explorers. There is appropriate- 
ness in this. Their expedition was the first 
to cross the continent under the auspices of 
the United States Government; in many 
ways it was, considering both the occasion 
and the result, the most important of all — 
other expeditions but continuing and broad- 
ening the work of the men who broke the 
path. It has seemed proper, upon the eve 
of the centennial celebration of their crossing, 



Vlll 



Preface 

to dwell in as much detail as space would 
allow, upon an event fraught with momen- 
tous consequence in the Expansion of the 
Republic. 

R. Gr. T. 



Madison, Wisconsin, 
December, 1903. 



IX 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

Preface vii 

I. Exploration op the Northwest Coast . . 1 

II. French Explorations from the East . . 22 

III. English Explorations from the East . . 37 

IV. The Missouri a Path to the Pacific . . 62 

V. The Louisiana Purchase 81 

VI. Organization of Lewis and Clark's Expedi- 
tion 92 

VII. From River Dubois to the Mandans . . 109 

VIII. At Fort Mandan 127 

IX. From the Mandans to the Sea . . . 137 

X. At Fort Clatsop, and the Return . = . 162 

XI. Thompson, Fraser, The Astorians, and Pike 188 

XII. The South Pass 209 

XIII. The Conquest of California .... 228 

XIV. The Continent Spanned by Settlement . . 244 
INDEX 253 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACINO 
PAGE 

Gates of the Rocky Mountains . . . Frontispiece 

Map drawn by the Indian Ochagach 28 

Portrait of Meriwether Lewis . . , . . 96 ' 

Portrait of William Clark 96 

Page of Clark's Journal ....... 110 

Page of Lewis's Journal 130 

Grant's Castle, on Columbia River 158 ' 

Portrait of Zebulon M. Pike 196 

Portrait of John C. Fremont 232 

Portrait of Kit Carson 232 



A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROCKY 
MOUNTAIN EXPLORATION 



OHAPTEK I 

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST 

Amid the prayers and the plaudits of 
Spain, Columbus set sail from the little port 
of Palos, seeking not a new world, but the 
shores of old India. It was from the Indus 
that Europe obtained her silks and gold, her 
spices and her precious stones ; while of the 
wealth of ancient China and Japan, the " Sun- 
rise Land," travelers like Marco Polo had 
brought glowing though vague accounts. 
When the Spanish admiral furled his sails in 
the palm-girt harbor of Cat Island, he was 
convinced that he had reached but an out- 
lying portion of those coveted lands ; to him, 
this was indeed the West Indies. Columbus 
went to his grave probably unconscious of the 
fact that he had discovered a new continent ; 
and the belief that America was merely a 

1 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

projection of Asia was long after persisted in 
by geographers. It was two and a half cen- 
turies later (1741) before Vitus Bering, sailing 
from the Pacific to the Arctic Ocean, proved 
to the world that America was insulated. 

Another time-worn geographical theory re- 
garding North America — a theory the origin 
of which is lost in obscurity — did not die until 
a half century later : that a waterway some- 
where extended through the heart of the 
continent between the Atlantic Ocean and 
the Pacific, or South Sea, as it was then 
named. The Spanish conquerors of Mexi- 
co, while vainly seeking for gold among the 
pueblos of our Southwest and along the 
gloomy shores of the Gulf of California, were 
early searchers for that transcontinental 
waterway which was to give them a short 
route from Europe to India. So, too, the ad- 
venturous French of Canada, while penetra- 
ting the heart of the continent by means of 
the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, were 
seeking to pierce the elusive mystery of the 
South Sea. John Smith, of Virginia, confi- 
dently thought to find it by ascending the 
James ; other Englishmen, little knowing the 

2 



Montezuma's Strait 

breadth of the continent, made similar trials 
by way of the Potomac and the Roanoke. 
Hendrik Hudson thought at first that the great 
river of New York might lead him into a 
passage to the Western Ocean, and still later 
fancied he had found it in Hudson Strait and 
Bay. Transcontinental exploration in North 
America was for nearly three centuries largely 
stimulated by this search for a mythic water- 
way. It is therefore necessary that we famil- 
iarize ourselves with the history of the long 
and fruitless quest. 

In 1513, a hundred and seven years before 
the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Bal- 
boa scaled the continental back-bone at Darien 
and unfurled the flag of Spain by the waters 
of the Pacific. With wondrous zeal did 
Spanish explorers beat up and down the 
western shore of the Gulf of Mexico, seek- 
ing for an opening through. Cortez had 
no sooner secured possession of Mexico, after 
his frightful slaughter of the Aztecs, than 
he began pushing out to the west and north- 
west — along the " upper coasts of the South 
Sea " — in search of the strait which Monte- 
zuma told him existed. 
2 3 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

It is unlikely that Montezuma's knowledge 
of North American geography was much 
greater than that of his conqueror. But in 
every age and land aborigines have first as- 
certained what visiting strangers most sought, 
whether it be gold or waterways, and assured 
them that somewhere beyond the neighbor- 
ing horizon these objects were to be found 
in plenty. Spanish, French, and English have 
each in their turn chased American rainbows 
that existed only in the brains of imagina- 
tive tribesmen who had little other thought 
than a childish desire to gratify their guests. 

Cortez undertook, at his own charge, several 
of these expensive exploring expeditions to 
discover the strait of which Montezuma had 
spoken, and one of them he conducted in per- 
son. In 1528 — the year he visited Spain to 
meet his accusers — we find him despatching 
Maldonado northward along the Pacific coast 
for three hundred miles ; and five years later 
Grijalva and Jimenez were claiming for Spain 
the southern portion of Lower California. 
A full hundred years before Jean Nicolet 
related to the French authorities at their 
feeble outpost on the rock of Quebec the 

4 



Seven Cities of Cibola 

story of his daring progress into the wilds of 
the upper Mississippi Valley, and the rumors 
he had there heard of the great river which 
flowed into the South Sea, Spanish officials 
in the halls of Montezuma were receiving 
the tales of their adventurers, who had pene- 
trated to strange lands laved by the waters 
of this selfsame ocean. 

It was about the year 1530 when the Span- 
iards in Mexico first received word, through 
an itinerant monk, Marcos de Niza, of certain 
powerful semi-civilized tribes dwelling some 
six hundred miles north of the capital of the 
Aztecs. These strange people were said to 
possess in great store domestic utensils and 
ornaments made of gold and silver; to be 
massed in seven large cities composed of 
houses built with stone ; and to be proficient 
in many of the arts of the Europeans. The 
search for "the seven cities of Cibola," as 
these reputed communities came to be called 
by the Spaniards, was at once begun. 

Guzman, just then at the head of affairs in 
New Spain, zealously set forth at the head of 
four hundred Spanish soldiers and a large 
following of Indians, to search for this mar- 

5 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

velous country. But the farther north the 
army marched the more distant became Ci- 
bola in the report of the natives whom they 
met on the way ; until at last the invaders be- 
came involved in the pathless deserts of New 
Mexico and the intricate ravines of the foot- 
hills beyond. The soldiers grew mutinous, 
and Guzman returned crestfallen to Mexico. 

In April, 1528, three hundred enthusiastic 
young nobles and gentlemen from Spain 
landed at Tampa Bay, under the leadership 
of Narvaez, whom Cortez had supplanted in 
the conquest of Mexico. Narvaez had been 
given a commission to hold Florida, with its 
supposed wealth of mines and precious stones, 
and to become its governor. Led by the cus- 
tomary fables of the natives, who told only 
such tales as they supposed their Spanish tor- 
mentors wished most to hear, the brilliant 
company wandered hither and thither through 
the vast swamps and forests, wasted by 
fatigue, famine, disease, and frequent assaults 
of savages. At last, after many distressing 
adventures, but four men were left — Cabeza 
de Vaca, treasurer of the expedition, and 
three others. For eight long years did these 

6 



The Age of Romance 

bruised and ragged Spaniards wearily roam 
across the region now divided into Texas, 
Indian Territory, Oklahoma, New Mexico, 
and Arizona — through tangled forests, across 
broad rivers, morasses, and desert stretches 
beset by wild beasts and men ; but ever 
spurred on by vague reports of a colony of 
their countrymen to the southwest. At last 
(May, 1536) the miserable wanderers, first to 
make the transcontinental trip in northern 
latitudes, reached the Gulf of California, 
where they met some of their fellow country- 
men, who bore them in triumph to the City 
of Mexico as the guests of the province. 

In that golden age of romance travelers 
were expected to gild their tales, and in this 
respect seldom failed to meet the popular de- 
mand. The Spanish conquistadores, in par- 
ticular, lived in an atmosphere of fancy. 
They looked at American savages and their 
ways through Spanish spectacles ; and know- 
ing nothing of the modern science of ethnol- 
ogy, quite misunderstood the import of what 
they saw. Beset by the national vice of 
flowery embellishment, they were also par- 
donably ignorant of savage life and had an 

7 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

indiscriminating thirst for the marvelous. 
Thus we see plainly how the Cibola myth 
arose and grew ; and why most official Span- 
ish reports of the conquest of the Aztecs 
were so distorted by false conceptions of the 
conquered people as in some particulars to be 
of slight value as material for history. It 
was, then, small wonder that Cabeza de Vaca 
and his fellow adventurers, in the midst of 
the hero worship of which they were now re- 
cipients, should claim themselves to have seen 
the mysterious seven cities and to have en- 
larged upon the previous stories. 

Coronado, governor of the northern prov- 
ince of New Galicia, was accordingly sent to 
conquer this wonderful country, which the 
adventurers had seen but Guzman had failed 
to find. In 1540, the year when Cortez again 
returned to meet ungrateful neglect at the 
hands of the Spanish court, Coronado set out 
with a well-equipped following of three hun- 
dred whites and eight hundred Indians. The 
Cibola cities were found to be but mud pueb- 
los in Arizona and New Mexico, with the as- 
pect of which we are to-day familiar ; while 
the mild-tempered inhabitants, destitute of 

8 



Coronado's Expedition 

wealth, peacefully practising their crude in- 
dustries and tilling their irrigated fields, were 
foemen hardly worthy of Castilian steel. 

Disappointed, but still hoping to find the 
country of gold, Coronado's gallant little 
army, frequently thinned by death and deser- 
tion, for three years beat up and down the 
southwestern wilderness : now thirsting in 
the deserts, now penned up in gloomy canons, 
now crawling over pathless mountains, suffer- 
ing the horrors of starvation and of despair, 
but following this will-o'-the-wisp with a mel- 
ancholy perseverance seldom seen in man save 
when searching for some mysterious treasure. 
Coronado apparently twice crossed the State 
of Kansas. "Through mighty plains and 
sandy heaths," says the chronicler of the ex- 
pedition, " smooth and wearisome and bare of 
wood. . . . All that way the plains are 
as full of crookback oxen [buffaloes] as the 
mountain Serena in Spain is of sheep. . . . 
They were a great succor for the hunger and 
want of bread which our people stood in. One 
day it rained in that plain a great shower of 
hail as big as oranges, which caused many 
tears, weaknesses, and vows." The wanderer 

9 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

ventured as far as the Missouri, and would 
have gone still farther eastward but for his 
inability to cross the swollen river. Co-oper- 
ating parties explored the upper valleys of 
the Rio Grande and Gila, ascended the Colo- 
rado for two hundred and forty miles above 
its mouth, and visited the Grand Canon of 
the same river. Coronado at last returned, 
satisfied that he had been victimized by the 
idle tales of travelers. He was rewarded 
with contumely, and lost his place as govern- 
or of New Galicia ; but his romantic march 
stands in history as one of the most remark- 
able exploring expeditions of modern times. 

Meanwhile, explorers did not forget the sup- 
posed transcontinental waterway — the " Strait 
of Anian," as some European geographers 
now called it; the "Northwest Passage," 
as it was generally styled by the English. 
The latter were not long in exploring the in- 
lets of the Atlantic coast south of the St. 
Lawrence, and in consequence relegating to 
the extreme north the eastern end of the 
mythic strait. The Spanish on their part 
ascended but slowly along the Pacific coast, 
their successive maps locating the strait 

10 



Spanish Coast Voyages 

at varying distances northward of the latest 
exploration ; although there were not lacking 
those who claimed actually to have sailed 
upon it, their fabrications gaining wide popu- 
lar acceptance. We have seen that in 1533 
they claimed Lower California. Ten years 
later, one of Cabrillo's ships reached Cape Men- 
docino ; but it was long before this record was 
broken — indeed, the well-equipped expedi- 
tion of Vizcaino, which came to anchor in 
Monterey Bay in 1602-03, was little more 
than a repetition of Cabrillo's, and Oregon 
was still practically an undiscovered country. 
In fact, now that India was found to be so 
far away, and large Spanish interests had be- 
come established in the Philippines and else- 
where in the South Seas, concern in the 
American north quickly waned ; save that it 
was deemed important to find a port of 
refuge on the American coast, in the in- 
terest of the Manila traders, which was in 
part the occasion of Vizcaino's voyage. As 
regarded the much-sought-for strait, it came 
to be recognized that a short route from 
Europe to India through the American con- 
tinent might well prove a positive disad- 

11 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

vantage to Spain, by making it more con- 
venient for rivals to reach her markets and 
prey upon her commerce ; although many 
argued that in that event it would be well 
for Spain herself to discover the strait in 
order to close it to others. Now that Eng- 
lish piratical cruisers, officered by Drake 
(1579) and Cavendish (1587), had rounded 
Cape Horn and enriched themselves with the 
spoils of her galleons, Spain's plight might 
have been serious indeed had the Pacific been 
also accessible through Hudson Bay. As it 
was, a hundred and seventy years elapsed 
after Vizcaino's enterprise, with practically 
nothing discovered by Spanish sailors north 
of the Gulf of California. 

During this long period of inaction in 
maritime discovery, New Spain exhibited a 
certain degree of enterprise within the in- 
terior. In 1582, some forty years after Coro- 
nado's march, two Franciscan friars ascended 
the valley of the Rio Grande, and went down 
the valley of the Gila, making a transcon- 
tinental tour, and securing a temporary re- 
newal . of interest in the pueblos. Sixteen 
years later, near the close of the sixteenth 

12 



Spanish Missions 

century, Juan de Onate invaded what is now 
New Mexico, and Santa Fe was established 
as the seat of Spanish power in the north. In 
1604-05 Onate made extensive explorations 
among the Zuni and Moqui towns, and de- 
scended the Colorado to the sea ; while about 
the same time several entradas were planted 
among the Texan tribes far to the east. By 
1630 the Roman Catholics had fifty missions 
in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas, admin- 
istering religious instruction to ninety pueblos. 
This was the high-water mark of Spanish 
power in our Southwest. In 1680 the na- 
tives, rendered desperate by the harsh rule of 
their military taskmasters, drove them from 
the land of Cibola ; but by the close of the 
century the Spaniards were again in posses- 
sion. 

In 1697-1702 the Jesuits Kino and Sal- 
vatierra, worthily imitating the deeds of their 
French brethren in Canada, founded missions 
along the Gila and Colorado Rivers — connect- 
ing links between New Mexico and the 
western coast. The Spaniards moved more 
slowly than the French, and it was nearly a 
century after Kino's notable expedition be- 

13 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

fore an attempt was made to extend Indian 
missions into Upper or Alta California. But 
they were then pushed vigorously by the 
Franciscans, headed by Father Junipero Serra, 
at favorable points along the shore — San 
Diego in 1769, Monterey the following year, 
San Francisco in 1776, until by the end of 
the century there were eighteen missions, 
with forty priests, and 13,500 Indians living 
at the convert villages. 

It has been the fashion to charge the Span- 
ish fathers with having practically enslaved 
their dusky neophytes, in order to enrich 
themselves from their labor. This conclu- 
sion is not warranted by the facts. Like the 
French Jesuits in Canada, the Spanish mis- 
sionaries soon found it impracticable to suc- 
ceed in the work of religious training and 
oversight so long as their parishioners were 
semi-nomads. Villages or compounds were 
therefore formed in New Spain as in New 
France, wherein it was thought the converts 
might become accustomed to communal life, 
and by continuous though moderate labor also 
secure freedom from the taunts and tempta- 
tions of the unconverted. While the Spanish 

14 



Missionary Methods 

army was undoubtedly cruel to the natives, 
the laws of both Church and State were 
models of benevolence toward these de- 
pendent people. The sanitation in the con- 
vert villages was inadequate, as it also was in 
the towns of Spain, and the death-rate was 
excessive ; the Indians chafed under sustained 
labor in the communal fields ; they sometimes 
rebelled against the modest tribute required 
of them to meet the common expenses ; and 
the minute rules and observances of the 
Church, with corporal punishment meted out 
at the sanctuary door to all offenders, were 
not always to their liking. But these condi- 
tions were such as Spaniards lived under at 
home in that period when modern science 
was unknown, when superstition prevailed, 
and the Church ruled with the discipline of a 
stern parent. The Indian, however, was less 
prepared for this sort of thing than the Euro- 
pean. We may now properly adjudge these 
missionary methods as in some particulars 
inapt, but they were born of the best Spanish 
thought of their day, and were intended to 
be philanthropic. That a mere handful of 
priests could for so long a period firmly hold 

15 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

in hand and to an appreciable degree soften 
the fierce temper of so large a population of 
sturdy savages, is an evidence that their rule 
was not altogether that of the taskmaster. 

In 1773, alarmed by the reports of Russian 
coast explorations in the far north, Spain 
sent out Juan Perez, who, doubtless first of 
white men, examined the shore as far up as 
latitude 55°. In 1774-75, Heceta, Perez, and 
Cuadra explored the whole extent of the 
Northwest Coast from 42° to about 58° — 
the latter near the modern Sitka. On July 
17th of the latter year Heceta's ship was 
buffeted by the strong cross-currents of the 
bay which forms the mouth of the Columbia ; 
but no landing was made, and the existence 
of the river was only surmised. Meanwhile, 
exploration of the interior was not wholly 
neglected by the Spaniards, for in 1776-77 
Fathers Dominguez and Escalante journeyed 
from New Mexico to Utah Lake, in the Great 
Basin, which Father Font also visited in 1777. 

Captain James Cook, the famous English 
navigator, was, in 1778, on his third and 
final voyage, searching the coast to the north 
of Vizcaino's discoveries for the Northwest 

16 



Perouse's Voyage 

Passage, and in the course of his voyage ex- 
plored between latitude 43° and 50°. The 
following year, Cook's discoveries having be- 
come widely known, Heceta and Cuadra con- 
ducted extensive explorations as far up as 
Alaska, and Spain now regarded the entire 
Northwest Coast as her own ; indeed, further 
voyages of discovery were the following year 
forbidden by the king, although within a 
few years the order was abrogated. 

In 1786, a famous French navigator and 
scientist, Count de la Perouse, visited these 
shores and gave to the world its first defi- 
nite knowledge of the California missions. 
Within the next three years several English 
fur-trading vessels were operating along the 
coast, but added nothing to the record of 
discoveries. Two and three vears later there 
were new Spanish expeditions to watch the 
Russians, who were contemplating establish- 
ments in the north, also the adventurous 
English, whose movements were alike sus- 
picious; for while ostensibly only engaged 
in carrying American furs to China, where 
they were bartered for teas, silks, spices, and 
other Oriental goods, the British captains 

17 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

were suspected of entertaining designs of 
permanent settlement on the American shore. 
Irritation over the presence of small English 
settlements at Nootka Sound occasioned a 
diplomatic flurry between the two nations. 
In 1789 Spanish naval officers seized at 
Nootka two English trading vessels and 
their crews, alleging trespass. After a long 
and spirited controversy, which led almost 
to war, Spain in 1795 agreed to abandon 
Ebotka and substantially all of the shore 
lying north of the Columbia ; thus enabling 
English and American fur-traders to obtain a 
firm hold upon the Northwest Coast. 1 

1 Nootka Sound is on the west coast of Vancouver Island, 
now Canadian territory. In August, 1903, upon the shore of 
Friendly Cove, the Washington University State Historical So- 
ciety erected " a fine monument of native granite " bearing this 
inscription : " Vancouver and Quadra met here in August, 1792, 
under the treaty between Spain and Great Britain of October, 
1790. Erected by the Washington University State Historical 
Society, August, 1903." The address of presentation was made 
by Prof. Edmond S. Meany, of Washington University; that of 
acceptance by Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, Lieutenant-Governor 
of British Columbia. A picture of the monument appears in the 
Seattle Post-Intelligencer for August 30, 1903. During his visit 
Professor Meany exhumed numerous " flat Spanish bricks " 
used in the foundations of the old Spanish fort. For a half cen- 
tury after the meeting the island bore the name, " Quadra and 
Vancouver's Island." 

18 



American Coast Traders 

American fur- trading vessels, chiefly from 
New England, appeared upon the scene within 
the year following the treaty with England 
under which the United States was recog- 
nized as a nation. Like the English, they 
sought to secure furs from the Pacific Coast 
Indians and trade them in China and India 
for goods salable in the Atlantic towns. The 
leaders in this venture were a company of 
Boston merchants who had read the reports 
of Cook's voyages. In 1788 they sent out 
the Columbia and Lady Washington, small 
vessels with cargoes of blankets, gaily col. 
ored cloths, beads, hatchets, and other ar- 
ticles commonly used in traffic with the abo- 
rigines ; and thereafter New England naviga- 
tors were visitors frequently seen upon the 
shores of what are now California, Oregon, 
and Washington. 

Upon the eleventh of May, 1792, Captain 
Robert Gray, commanding the Columbia, 
entered the mouth of the great river to which 
he gave the name of his vessel, a stream des- 
tined to play a conspicuous part in the roman- 
tic story of Rocky Mountain exploration. In 
this same year some thirty vessels visited the 
3 19 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Northwest Coast — French, Portuguese, Eng- 
lish, and American — most of them engaged in 
trafficking for furs with the natives, others 
upon errands either of diplomacy or explora- 
tion. Most prominent of the English captains 
was George Vancouver, probably the best 
equipped navigator who had yet visited the 
region. His surveys and reports did much to 
open the way to subsequent English claims 
in this quarter. 

Owing to the fact that the East India Com- 
pany enjoyed practically a monopoly of Eng- 
lish trade upon the Pacific, especially that 
with China and India, nearly all the vessels 
of independent English traders had by the 
close of the century abandoned the North- 
west Coast. Thus the Americans were for 
nearly twenty years left almost alone in this 
important trade, an opportunity not neglected 
by our adventurous marines. Leaving some 
New England port with a diversified store of 
"Yankee notions" for bartering with Poly- 
nesians and Indians, a skipper would stop en 
route at the West Indies and the South Sea 
islands. There he would pick up molasses, 
sugar, shells, cocoanuts, and other articles 

20 



An Important Factor 

suitable for traffic, with them proceeding to 
the Northwest Coast, perhaps making Nootka 
his chief port, where he quickly acquired a 
stock of furs from the natives. Running 
down with his peltries to the Sandwich Islands 
at the close of the season, he would leave 
them to be dressed on land by the greater 
part of his ship's company, engage a fresh 
crew of islanders, and return to Nootka for 
another cargo of furs. Adding enough san- 
dalwood at Hawaii to make a full cargo, he 
would now sail for China, to exchange his 
holdings for teas, silks, and Oriental cloths, 
with which he would return to the Atlantic 
coast after a profitable absence of three or 
four years. 

It will be seen in the course of this narra- 
tive that the desire to cultivate the fur-trade 
was, under the American regime, an important 
factor in Rocky Mountain exploration. 



21 



CHAPTEE II 

FRENCH EXPLORATIONS FROM THE EAST 

In common with the English colonists upon 
the Atlantic slope, the men of New France 
had no conception of the immense breadth of 
the North American continent. When, prob- 
ably in 1634, Champlain's agent, Jean Nicolet, 
penetrated to the far-away wilds of Wiscon- 
sin, he hoped to meet Chinamen upon the 
shores of Green Bay. Before landing at the 
principal Indian village there, he robed himself 
in a gorgeous damask gown decorated with 
gaily colored birds and flowers, a ceremonial 
garment with which he had taken care to pro- 
vide himself at Quebec, expecting to meet 
mandarins similarly attired. In the name La 
Chine, as applied to the settlement at the 
great rapids of the St. Lawrence just above 
Montreal, we have a memorial of the hope 
entertained by La Salle that the road to 

22 



Width of the Continent 

China lay in this direction. These incidents 
amuse us now. But we have seen that it was 
somewhat over a century after Nicolet's visit 
before Bering established the fact that Amer- 
ica was insulated and not a part of Asia ; and 
still another half century of spasmodic ex- 
ploration was required before the facts rela- 
tive to the width of the continent were at last 
known. 

Although the hope that Asiatics might be 
found in the Mississippi Valley does not 
appear to have been long entertained, the old 
theory of a short-cut transcontinental water- 
way was held by the French throughout their 
occupancy of North America. Jolliet, Mar- 
quette, and La Salle, as had many explorers 
before them, thought at first that the Missis- 
sippi itself might pour into the South Sea. 
When they found this untrue, it was there- 
after the dream of adventurers to discover 
some stream flowing westerly to the Pacific, 
which might prove a convenient waterway for 
the portable craft then used by the explorers 
of the interior. 

For a long period the French were satisfied 
not to penetrate far beyond Lakes Superior 

23 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

and Nepigon, a region wherein Du Luth was 
for many years the principal trader. The In- 
dians were able to draw fairly correct maps 
either on birch-bark or with a stick upon the 
sand, and were fond of dilating upon the size 
and length of the lakes and rivers by which 
they had journeyed. Thus, from them, the 
traders, settled in their little waterside forts 
of logs, became in a general way well ac- 
quainted with the interior ; but they did not 
at first care to explore it to any great depth, 
for the natives, eager for trade, brought in 
furs from far-distant regions. 

With the revival of European interest in 
the Northwest Passage, some of the officials 
of New France became imbued with an ambi- 
tion to foster the search, and here and there 
among the hardy Western forest traders were 
men who expressed eagerness to undertake it. 
The court at Paris, however, looked askance 
at any scheme to divert public money to Can- 
ada. If the colony across seas were not to 
be a source of revenue, it at least must not, 
if possible to prevent, prove a burden to 
the motherland. When in 1719 Vaudreuil, 
then Governor of New France, was authorized 

24 



Fur-Trading Explorers 

to establish a line of posts through the coun- 
try to the west of Lake Superior, it was ex- 
pressly stipulated by the court that they must 
be planted " without any expense to the king 
— as the person establishing them would be 
remunerated by the trade." Thus Canadian 
explorers under the French regime were, as a 
rule, expected to turn fur-traders en route, 
and support themselves from the country 
through which they passed, being armed with 
the often doubtful privilege of throttling the 
trade of competitors in the field. Under such 
conditions it is small wonder that some ex- 
ploring parties soon developed into mere tyran- 
nous trade monopolies, operating through wide 
districts, and maintaining their grasp by cor- 
rupt manipulation of court favorites; while 
others, honestly bent on discovery, were in 
the long absences of their leaders from home 
ruined by enemies at court and in trade, and 
came to sad ends. 

In 1720 the Jesuit historian and traveler 
Father Charlevoix was sent to New France 
on a tour of observation, to inform the Coun- 
cil of the Marine at Paris relative to a suit- 
able route to the Pacific. He made two sug- 

25 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

gestions : either to send an expedition up the 
Missouri to its source, and then explore to the 
westward, exactly what Jefferson planned in 
the two closing decades of the century, or to 
establish a line of fur-trade posts among the 
Sioux, and thus gradually creep into and 
across the interior. The second of these prop- 
ositions, which he reported to be the less ex- 
pensive and perhaps more certain, was chosen 
by the French authorities. 

It was, nevertheless, several years before 
the resolution was carried into effect. Fort 
Beauharnois, a stockaded trading station, 
was built (1727) upon the Minnesota shore 
of Lake Pepin, on the upper Mississippi, with 
Bene Boucher de la Perriere in charge, and 
the Jesuits Guignas and De Gonnor to look 
after the missionary field ; for in New France 
the service of the Church went hand in hand 
with that of the king. A fresh uprising of 
the Foxes in Wisconsin — they gave the 
French no end of trouble in those days — 
caused the abandonment of the post, where 
little but discouragement had been heard con- 
cerning the Western Sea. 

Soon after De Gonnor's return to Quebec, 

26 



Verendrye's Career 

there arrived at the little capital of New 
France one the remainder of whose life was 
to be spent in searching for the Pacific Ocean 
from the east — Pierre Gaultier de Varennes 
de la Verendrye. Son of the governor of the 
colony of Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence, 
Verendrye had had early experience as a fur- 
trader. Upon the opening of the War of the 
Spanish Succession (1702-13) he went to 
France and obtained a lieutenant's commis- 
sion in the royal army. Left for dead on 
the bloody field of Malplaquet, where he was 
wounded by both shots and saber cuts, he re- 
covered, and returning to Canada re-entered 
the woods as a trader, a pursuit then enlisting 
the services of the most daring spirits in 
New France. 

Obtaining the command of the French out- 
post on Lake Nepigon, and there also con- 
ducting a fur-trade on his own behalf, Ve- 
rendrye had opportunity for meeting Indians 
representing many widely differing tribes, 
scattered throughout a vast wilderness; for this 
was the headquarters of the extensive trade 
which was conducted in opposition to that of 
the great English company on Hudson Bay. 

27 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

From these Indians he heard many strange 
tales of adventure and geography. One chief, 
in particular, told him of a certain river flow- 
ing westward out of a great lake which the 
narrator had himself descended until he 
came to a tide which so terrified him that he 
turned back ; also of a salt lake with many 
villages upon it. Warming with his story, 
Ochagach drew on birch-bark a rude map of 
the route to these regions, and set Veren- 
drye's heart afire with a yearning to discover 
the long-sought sea. 

Acting upon the impulse of this desire, he 
descended to Quebec in his birch canoe — a 
long and dangerous journey, but one which 
these Western traders undertook almost 
yearly, in order to keep in touch with the 
Government and the fur market. He there 
laid before the governor, Beauharnois, this 
Indian map and his scheme for reaching the 
Pacific by way of the network of northern 
lakes and rivers — chiefly Pigeon River, Lake 
of the Woods, Rainy Lake and River, Lake 
Winnipeg, and the Assiniboin. De Gonnor, 
being convinced that the route thither was 
not through the Sioux country, indorsed his 

28 




JZorf- /daman 



tstiecu/Q.* 



<2/N/j€rtCN> 



icr-tcw /u/fua ^cca*na.m> 



'/& 



niiCU.«tt 



7e g. 



deccuverfeJ 




Ccvytl. fracee. -par I- JauVafe OcAaja-cA, e£ aufoej, layiu/z. - J —<•' i*u awr dcccuyertr.i 



«&* &//utirt ■Zfr'an 



MAP DRAWN BY THE INDIAN OCHAGACH. 
bcsimile of manuscript preserved in Dominion Parliamentary Library, Ottawa. 



cent Zsyrrejenttcj c/ans faCark ou /y'yriJL' 



Ochagach's Waterway 

friend's theory as at least probable. The 
chief engineer of New France, Chaussegros 
de Lery, an official of high repute, also 
thought well of Verendrye's belief that by 
this path he could find the ocean within five 
hundred leagues from Lake Superior. 

Having won the powerful backing of these 
officers, the adventurous commandant asked 
the king for a military force of a hundred 
men, with canoes, arms, and provisions ; but, 
as usual, the ministry would give nothing 
further than a parchment with a great seal, 
granting him a monopoly of the fur-trade 
north and west of Lake Superior, upon the 
supposed profits of which he was to reim- 
burse himself. Possessing but small capital, 
he was now chiefly dependent on what credit 
he could obtain on the strength of his mo- 
nopoly. Quebec merchants appear to have 
had some doubts of the cash value of trade 
privileges, and granted goods and equipment 
to the expedition only on terms highly dis- 
advantageous to Verendrye. With these, 
however, he set forth upon his quest (June 
8, 1731) in good heart, accompanied by his 
three sons and his nephew La Jemeraye. At 

29 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Mackinac the Jesuit Father Charles Michel 
Mesaiger joined the expedition, and at the 
close of the season Verendrye built his first 
fort, St. Pierre, three miles above the falls 
of Eainy River. The earthwork which sup- 
ported the palisade of this establishment is 
still to be seen. 

The following year the explorers built 
their second fort, St. Charles, upon the south- 
west shore of the Lake of the Woods, where 
they hoped to reap profits from the trade of 
the Sioux, who visited this region in consid- 
erable numbers for fishing and intertribal 
barter. A year later the expedition reached 
Lake Winnipeg. By this time Verendrye's 
finances were in sad condition. The ex- 
penses of his enterprise, in which the cost of 
maintaining the posts was a large item, had so 
far outweighed the receipts of the uncertain 
fur-trade that he had lost the then large sum 
of 43,000 livres. La Jemeraye returned to 
Quebec to report the situation to the govern- 
or, who represented to the king that the ex- 
pedition must stop if unaided. As usual, the 
court gave an unfavorable reply, merely reiter- 
ating its proffer of the fur-trade monopoly. 

30 



A Wilderness Tragedy 

V6rendrye rallied, notwithstanding, and in 
1734 built a post at the mouth of Winnipeg 
River, Fort Maurepas, named after the French 
Prime Minister, whose favor he vainly courted. 
The year following, while awaiting the result 
of a second appeal for help, the time of the 
explorers was spent in an extended traffic with 
the savages between Lakes Superior and 
Winnipeg, and in taking cargoes of furs to 
Mackinac in exchange for goods in demand 
among the Indians. 

The year 1736 was marked by successive 
disasters, culminating in a tragedy. Veren- 
drye's eldest son, together with a Jesuit 
missionary, Jean Pierre Aulneau, and twenty 
others, were surprised and massacred by 
Sioux upon an island in the Lake of the 
Woods, five leagues from St. Charles. Ve- 
rendrye was now beset by creditors, who 
pestered him with lawsuits, and necessitated 
his journeying several times to Montreal. 
But during these years of adversity the pen- 
niless though undaunted adventurer somehow 
contrived to push his explorations. By 1738 
he had a chain of six fortified posts reaching 
westward from Lake Superior — St. Pierre on 

31 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Rainy Lake, St. Charles on Lake of the Woods, 
Maurepas at the mouth of the Winnipeg, Bour- 
bon on the east shore of Lake Winnipeg, La 
Reine at Portage la Prairie on the Assiniboin, 
and Dauphin on Lake Manitoba. Fort Rouge, 
on the site of the present city of Winnipeg, and 
another post at the mouth of the Saskatche- 
wan, were occupied for a short time. Most 
of these were small stockades, flanked by log 
blockhouses, and built and manned with 
great difficulty ; while others were merely 
winter stations, hastily erected. 

In 1738 he determined to make his long- 
projected journey in search of the Pacific. 
Leaving Fort La Reine in October, with a 
party of about fifty persons, French and In- 
dians, he was lured on by the false tales of 
the natives, who sent him thither and yon, 
seeking some band which might conduct him 
to the ocean. At last he determined to visit 
the Mandans, on the upper Missouri, the 
tribe among whom Lewis and Clark spent the 
winter sixty-six years later. On December 
3d the wanderers reached the central Man- 
dan town, situated 250 miles from Portage la 
Prairie. Verendrye was much impressed by 

32 



Among the Mandans 

the physiognomy of the Mandans, whom he 
found to be quite different in appearance 
from the Indians with whom he was familiar ; 
among them he saw many with light com- 
plexions, and some of the women had flaxen 
hair. Their village fortifications were new to 
him, and many of their customs were alike 
strange. Explorers of a later date ascribed 
these peculiarities to a supposed Welsh 
origin, a theory now exploded. Verendrye 
would have passed the winter among these 
interesting people, but his Assiniboin guide 
and interpreter would not stay, and a return 
march was necessitated. Fort La Keine was 
reached February 11th, after many hardships, 
during which the leader became, he tells us in 
his journal, " greatly fatigued and very ill." 

After another year of lawsuits and jealous 
opposition, Verendrye made (1741) an un- 
successful journey towards the Mandans. The 
next year, his eldest surviving son, Pierre, later 
called the Chevalier de la Verendrye, set 
out upon the same quest, in company with his 
brother and two other men. Keaching the 
Mandans in three weeks from La Eeine, the 
adventurers pushed their way farther and f ar- 

33 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

ther southwestward, enticed by the usual 
fairy-tales of the tribesmen. All summer and 
autumn and through the early winter they 
wearily plodded on, now and then joining 
native war-parties, occasionally taking wide 
detours for hunting, but ever seeking news 
of the Western Sea. 

Upon New Year's day, 1743, they, doubt- 
less first of all white men, saw the Rocky 
Mountains from the east — probably the Big- 
horn Range, a hundred and twenty miles 
east of Yellowstone Park — and it is thought 
that they pushed on until sighting the Wind 
River Range. Finding their pathway to the 
ocean thus blocked — although little suspect- 
ing that nearly a thousand miles of these 
dreary mountains lay between them and the 
sea — they returned to La Prairie, which they 
reached upon the second of July, to their 
father's great joy, for he had almost given 
them up for lost. 

The elder Verendrye was now given a cap- 
taincy in the colonial troops and decorated by 
the Cross of the Order of St. Louis, but he 
died at Montreal, December 6, 1745, when he 
was again about to start for the West. His 

34 



Post of the Western Sea 

sons added to their record by ascending the 
Saskatchewan River to its forks and making 
known other wide tracts of country. Beau- 
harnois and his successor, Galissoniere, who 
were stanch friends of the family, had, how- 
ever, been succeeded (1749) by the corrup- 
tionist La Jonquiere, and the claims of the 
Verendryes were not only ignored, but their 
goods were seized, their posts and property 
turned over to Legardeur St. Pierre, and they 
reduced to poverty. The unscrupulous St. 
Pierre, who was in collusion with the intend- 
ant Bigot, built a small post, La Jonquiere, 
near the mountains on the upper Saskatche- 
wan, not far from the site of the modern 
Calgary ; but after three years of hardship, 
in which his little party sometimes lacked 
sufficient food and were attacked by hostile 
Indians, he was compelled to abandon the 
enterprise. 

Although St. Pierre had left the country, 
others carried on the work, the chain of posts 
from Lake Superior to La Jonquiere being 
collectively styled in the official reports " Post 
of the Western Sea," a name expressing the 
dream of Verendrye, which Englishmen were 
4 35 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

to realize a generation later. Two years be- 
fore the downfall of New France a report 
upon these posts describes them as "forts 
built of stockades . . . that can give protec- 
tion only against the Indians . . . and trusted 
generally to the care of one or two officers, 
seven or eight soldiers, and eighty engages. 
From them the English movements can be 
watched," and " the discovery of the Western 
Sea may be accomplished ; but to make this 
discovery it will be necessary that the travel- 
ers give up all view of personal interest." 

In the collapse of French dominion Rocky 
Mountain exploration suffered a temporary 
check, for the Western posts beyond Kami- 
nistiquia, on Lake Superior, were at once aban- 
doned. The methods of New France were not 
rapid, but they achieved results more quickly 
than those of the British, under which a gen- 
eration passed before her fur-traders succeeded 
in breaking a path to the Pacific. 



36 



CHAPTER III 

ENGLISH EXPLOKATIONS FKOM THE EAST 

As a result of explorations made by two 
daring French adventurers — Pierre d'Esprit, 
Sieur Radisson, and M6dard Chouart, Sieur 
des Groseilliers, who probably were the first 
white men to discover Lake Superior and 
possibly Hudson Bay — there was organized 
in London in 1667 one of the most powerful 
trading corporations known to history, " The 
Governor and Company of Adventurers of 
England, trading into Hudson Bay." The 
redoubtable Prince Rupert headed the list of 
stockholders, prominent among whom were 
the Duke of York and other members of the 
court. It would have been impossible for a 
king to have granted to any company a charter 
more favorable than that with which Charles 
II endowed this ambitious fur-trading cor- 
poration. They were given outright the far- 

37 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

stretching region drained by all waters either 
directly or indirectly flowing into and from 
Hudson Bay — to which they later added great 
grants upon the Pacific and Arctic slopes. 
Throughout this vast wilderness, called " Ku- 
pert's Land," they were to enjoy the ' ' whole, 
entire, and only liberty of Trade and Tramck," 
and the right to seize upon the property and 
persons of all competitors, whether British or 
not ; they were to make and enforce laws for 
their wide domain ; to administer justice ; to 
build and garrison forts ; to maintain ships of 
war, and to exercise all military as well as 
civil powers, even to the making of war or 
peace with other peoples. In short, theirs 
was as absolute a sway as that of any Orien- 
tal monarch. 

During the entire term of their government 
the Hudson's Bay Company sternly exercised 
these great powers. Their dealings with the 
Indians were just ; their commercial methods, 
while stern, were honorable; their agents 
were, as a rule, well selected and judicious ; 
but they insisted upon absolute monopoly, 
and brooked no violation of the rule, offend- 
ers being as severely handled as though guilty 

38 



Secrets of the Interior 

of serious crime. With the advance of years, 
however, and the general amelioration of gov- 
ernmental methods in England, the company 
gradually tempered their rule. Two centu- 
ries after their organization they surrendered 
to the public all powers save such as in our 
time properly appertain to a commercial body. 
Keen in trade, the company were long sin- 
gularly inactive in the matter of interior ex- 
ploration. The Indians and half-breeds came 
long journeys to bring their pelts to the well- 
fortified trading-posts upon the shores of the 
bay, whence they were loaded directly into 
ships and transported to England ; and with 
this the merchant adventurers seemed content 
for about eighty years. It is a question in 
dispute as to what induced this early apathy 
— whether hesitancy at spending money, the 
natural sluggishness of a monopoly which 
easily made large dividends despite heavy 
losses from several French military expedi- 
tions against the bay forts, timidity of the 
company's agents, or a serious policy of keep- 
ing from both competitors and possible set- 
tlers the secrets of the great fur-bearing wil- 
derness. Certain it is that the company's 

39 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

inaction was in ill accord with the temper of 
the British people, in whom the love of bold 
adventure has ever been strong. 

Of this indifference toward exploration 
upon the part of "the old lady of Fen- 
church Street " we have seen that the more 
active French took advantage. The opera- 
tions of Verendrye and St. Pierre, and their 
successors in the long " Post of the Western 
Sea" — stretching for over twelve hundred 
miles from Lake Superior to the upper waters 
of the Saskatchewan — were clearly within the 
territory so lavishly bestowed upon the great 
compauy by King Charles. But for the fall 
of New France no doubt the Pacific would 
within a few years have been reached by 
French agents in the far West. Thus might 
the British have for a time been checkmated 
by a system of fortified stations connecting 
the Western Sea with Lake Superior, and 
serving as the left wing of that thin line of 
occupation which already connected Canada 
and Louisiana by way of the Great Lakes and 
the Mississippi Valley — the whole an enor- 
mous letter T, with its horizontal bar a trans 
continental system stretching from the Gulf 

40 



The Northwest Passage 

of St. Lawrence to the Pacific, and its stem 
commanding the entire length of the Missis- 
sippi River and its approaches. It was an 
ambitious project; although that the entire 
cordon would eventually have been broken 
at every point by the slower but steadier 
British, there is no room to doubt. 

The Atlantic coast had been explored in 
detail at a much earlier date than the Pacific. 
The early dreams that the mythical trans- 
continental waterway might be found leading 
through such rivers as the James, the Roan- 
oke, and the Hudson had soon been shat- 
tered. Every opening south of the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence had been examined in vain ; 
and now the only promise seemed to be that 
Hudson Strait and Bay would prove to be 
connected with the Northwest Passage. To 
find this was for over two hundred years the 
dream of navigators ; indeed, " the discovery 
of a New Passage into the South Sea " was 
one of the duties imposed upon the Hudson's 
Bay Company by its charter. That it failed 
to do anything for fifty years, awakened se- 
vere criticism, which it was sought to mollify 
in 1719 by a fruitless expedition with two 

41 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

ships along the west coast of the bay, fol- 
lowed two years later by another ; but these 
enterprises were not regarded by enemies as 
serious attempts to solve the problem. 

About 1735, Arthur Dobbs, a talented and 
pugnacious Irishman, commenced a vigorous 
assault on the company, which lasted for some 
fifteen years. Dobbs was an enthusiast on 
the subject of the Northwest Passage, and 
with rare gift of phrase and considerable 
knowledge of North American conditions, 
fired the British imagination by painting in 
heightened colors the beauty and resources 
of the interior and the great profits which 
might ensue from this trade and that which 
would also be developed by a short route to 
the East Indies. Dobbs bitterly attacked 
the company for neglecting the exploration 
and settlement originally expected of it, for 
abusing the Indians, neglecting their forts, 
ill-treating their own servants, and encourag- 
ing the French. Its replies were not of a 
character such as wholly to convince the 
people, whose sympathies were from the first 
with Dobbs. 

In 1736 the company sought to satisfy the 

42 



Dobbs's Contention 

public by despatching two sloops on a voy- 
age to discover the passage, but of course 
they were unsuccessful, as was also a like ex- 
pedition tne^ following year. In N 1>£41-42 
Captain Christopher Middleton took out two 
small vessels directly under the supervision 
of Dobbs, who now had the backing of the 
lords of the admiralty. But when this search, 
from which much had been expected, met 
with equal discouragement, Dobbs accused the 
navigator of playing into the hands of the 
company. A bitter dispute ensued, during 
which numerous and widely read books and 
pamphlets were published on both sides. 
Popular interest was so aroused by this agi- 
tation that in 1745 Parliament voted a re- 
ward of <£20,000 to the British navigator who 
should discover a passage from Hudson Bay 
to the Pacific Ocean — an offer renewed in 
1776. In 1746-47 a committee of Dobbs's 
friends sent out another expedition under his 
special direction; but it was quite as unsuc- 
cessful as Middleton's, whereupon Dobbs 
dropped this phase of the discussion. 

The opposition now centered upon a plea 
of " non-user," under which the company's 

43 




Rocky Mountain Exploration 

charter was in 1749 attacked in Parliament. 
It was shown that at that time it had only 
four or five forts upon the coast, housing but 
120 regular employees. The attempt, how- 
ever, to secure a charter for a new com- 
pany, whose promoters promised to explore 
the interior, crowd out the French, and secure 
the entire fur-trade for English merchants, 
failed at this time, and the corporation es- 
caped unscathed. Fortunately for the fur- 
ther peace of the company, Dobbs was soon 
thereafter (1750) sent out as governor of 
North Carolina, where he exhibited much abil- 
ity and broad, liberal views, although his con- 
tentious disposition led him into frequent 
quarrels with the legislature. His interest in 
the Northwest Passage continued active until 
death claimed him in 1765. 

By the Treaty of Paris (1763), Great Brit- 
ain obtained control, as against any other 
European power, of the entire northeast of 
North America, of the northwest to the Mis- 
sissippi, and of the country north and west of 
the sources of the Mississippi as far as the 
Hudson's Bay Company cared to go. Que- 
bec and Montreal, particularly the latter, soon 

44 



The Henrys 

began to attract adventurous Englishmen and 
Scotchmen, many of whom entered the fur- 
trade as independent operators, none of them 
over particular as to whether or not they 
poached on the preserve of the great com- 
pany. In the employ of these traders were 
many experienced French agents, while 
French and half-breed voyageurs found under 
their new employers quite as lucrative occu- 
pation as in the days of the old regime. 

One of these Scotchmen, Alexander Henry, 
was at Mackinac and Sault Ste. Marie as 
early as 1761, two years after the victory of 
Wolfe and two before the definitive treaty of 
peace. In 1765 he enjoyed a monopoly of 
the Lake Superior trade, and three years later 
we find him establishing a regular trade route 
between Kaministiquia and Mackinac. At 
the close of the century this sturdy pioneer's 
nephew, also Alexander Henry — of whom we 
shall hear later — was operating in the Mani- 
toba region ; both traders have left us volu- 
minous journals of their experiences, which 
are interesting if only on the side of roman- 
tic adventure. 

Thomas Curry, another Scotch merchant, 

45 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

penetrated in 1766 with his crew of voya- 
geurs and interpreters to one of Verendrye's 
old posts on the lower Saskatchewan, and 
won such gains by his venture in peltries 
that, says Mackenzie, " he was satisfied never 
again to return to the Indian country." An- 
other profitable fur-trading journey was made 
two years later by James Finlay, who reached 
as high a point on the Saskatchewan as that 
attained by the Verendryes. 

While unconnected with the search for a 
transcontinental waterway, these expeditions 
of the independent traders served to smooth 
the path toward the Rocky Mountains, 
and therefore have a place in our narrative. 
Meanwhile, an enterprising Englishman was 
directly seeking the waterway in a more 
southern latitude- -through the country of 
the Sioux, thus unconsciously attempting the 
venture which Charlevoix had forty-five years 
before (p. 25) suggested as an alternative to 
the Missouri River route, and toward which 
La Perriere had made a feeble start. 

Jonathan Carver had served as a captain in 
a Massachusetts militia regiment— with Wolfe 
on the Plains of Abraham, and under Amherst 

46 



Carver's Quest 

at the capture of Montreal. With the advent 
of peace, he became possessed of the patriotic 
desire to " continue still serviceable, and con- 
tribute, as much as lay in my power, to make 
that vast acquisition of territory, gained by 
Great Britain, in North America advanta- 
geous to it." The exploration which he under- 
took was ambitious in character : " What I 
chiefly had in view, after gaining a knowl- 
edge of the Manners, Customs, Languages, 
Soil, and natural Productions of the different 
nations that inhabit the back of the Missis- 
sippi, was to ascertain the Breadth of that 
vast continent ; " then to propose to the gov- 
ernment the establishment of a post " in some 
of those parts about the Straits of Annian, 
which having been first discovered by Sir 
Francis Drake, of course belong to the Eng- 
lish," which "would greatly facilitate the 
discovery of a North- West Passage, or a com- 
munication between Hudson's Bay and the 
Pacific Ocean." 

Leaving Boston in June, 1766, Carver pro- 
ceeded by way of Albany and Niagara to 
Mackinac, then the farthest English outpost 
in the Northwest. Ascending the Fox Kiver 

47 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

of Green Bay, lie descended the Wisconsin 
and ascended the Mississippi to the Falls of 
St. Anthony (November 17th), the site of 
the modern Minneapolis. Here he had ex- 
pected supplies for which he contracted at 
Mackinac, intending to push through to the 
old fur-trade route west of Lake Superior, 
and eventually reach " the Heads of the river 
of the West " — by which he meant that he 
would seek the sources of the Columbia, 
which elsewhere he calls " the River Oregon, 
or the River of the West, that falls into the 
Pacific Ocean at the straits of Annian." 

But through somebody's carelessness these 
supplies never reached him. While waiting 
for them he explored Elk and Minnesota 
Rivers — the latter for a distance of two hun- 
dred miles, to the Sioux of the plains. Later, 
in the spring of 1767, he descended to Prairie 
du Chien, at the junction of the Wisconsin 
and Mississippi Rivers, and obtained a few 
supplies from some traders who centered 
there. Ascending the Chippewa, and later 
the St. Croix, he portaged over to a stream 
flowing into Lake Superior, and coasted 
around the western end of the lake to Grand 

48 



A Notable Volume 

Portage, near the mouth of Pigeon River, 
where he obtained from Indians much valu- 
able information regarding the Winnipeg 
region. Still unable to procure the goods 
needed for an extensive journey into the in- 
terior, Carver reluctantly returned to Mack- 
inac by the southern shore of the lake, and 
reached Boston in October, 1768, having been 
absent about two and a half years and trav- 
eled nearly seven thousand miles, much of it 
through an almost unknown wilderness. The 
bulky volume of his travels, published in Lon- 
don in 1778, attracted wide attention, being 
an important contribution to American geog- 
raphy, and it is still held in high regard as a 
treatise upon the manners and customs of the 
Indians ; for his report is that of an intelligent 
and discriminating eye-witness. 

Carver had brought back most remarkable 
stories told him by the Indians concerning 
great beds of gold in the " Shining Moun- 
tains," probably those now known as the 
Black Hills. His hopeful reports concern- 
ing the " Straits of Annian " and the " River 
of the West" were also well calculated to 
quicken popular interest among Englishmen 

49 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

who had not yet forgotten the fervid descrip- 
tions by Arthur Dobbs. This awakened the 
Hudson's Bay Company to fresh endeavors. 

Samuel Hearne, a trusted servant of the 
corporation, was sent out in November, 1769, 
" to clear up the point, if possible . . . 
respecting a passage out of Hudson Bay into 
the Western Ocean, as hath lately been repre- 
sented by l the American traveler ' " — mean- 
ing Carver. Abandoned by his native guides, 
and himself as yet unused to the ways of the 
wilderness, Hearne was soon obliged to re- 
turn discomfited to his base, the Prince of 
Wales Fort, at the mouth of Churchill River. 
He started afresh the following February, 
only to be plundered by the Indians, and again 
returned to the fort, this time after a weary 
absence of nearly nine months. A third time 
did the persevering Hearne make the attempt, 
starting in December, 1770. Joining a great 
war-party of various bands, whose members 
had not before seen a white man, the expedi- 
tion reached Coppermine River the following 
July, and descended it to the Arctic Ocean. 

After witnessing the horrible spectacle of 
a massacre of Eskimos on the part of his na- 

50 



Hearne's Crossing 

tive companions, Hearne set up a stake and, 
in the presence of a wondering audience of 
skin-clad savages, went through the empty 
ceremony of taking possession of the country 
for the Hudson's Bay Company. Upon the 
return he went with the Indians to the north 
shore of Lake Athabasca, and after sore pri- 
vations reached his fort upon the last day of 
June, 1772, having been absent upon this jour- 
ney nearly nineteen months, and traveled on 
foot over immense stretches of arctic and sub- 
arctic wilderness. The company thanked 
their courageous servant, and three years later 
rewarded him with the governorship of 
Prince of Wales Fort, in which capacity he 
waged bitter war upon his employers' fur- 
trade rivals. Hearne deserves a high place 
in the records of North American explora- 
tion ; the published account of his remarkable 
travels shows him to have been a close and 
enlightened observer, as well as possessed of 
a remarkable capacity for dealing with savage 
minds. 

The fur-trade of the Northwest suffered 
a severe blow from the fierce competition 
which arose among the independent specu- 
5 51 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

lators who swarmed the country soon after 
the cession to Great Britain. The distance 
from legal restraint led the rivals to exercise 
a free hand in using every possible means 
for taking advantage of each other. By pres- 
ents and misrepresentations, they sought to 
injure their competitors in the eyes of the 
Indians ; by drinking and carousing with 
their dusky customers they thought them- 
selves to win favor. Property and credit 
were wasted with the natives, who soon 
gained a contempt for the warring whites, 
and held their own pledges in small regard. 
This kindling of the worst passions of both 
races not seldom led to pitiful broils and 
sometimes murders, while meanwhile the prof- 
its of the trade were scattered to the winds. 
In the winter of 1783-84 a combination of 
the majority of the Canadian traders was 
formed under the name of the North- West 
Company, a stock corporation which entrusted 
the management of its business to the two 
largest houses — Benjamin and Joseph Frob- 
isher and Simon McTavish. A rival establish- 
ment, however, was founded by several op- 
erators who had been slighted in the alliance. 

52 



The North-West Company 

After a fierce contest, ending in a fight in the 
Athabasca country, in which one of the inde- 
pendents was killed and some others wounded, 
the malcontents were at last admitted to the 
union (1787). Thereafter the Canadian fur- 
trade was controlled by two organizations 
only, the Hudson's Bay and the North- West 
Companies, the former having its chief head- 
quarters at Prince of Wales Fort, and the latter 
on the island of Mackinac and at Grand Portage 
near where Pigeon River empties into Lake 
Superior. Of the life led by the North- West 
trading chiefs at Grand Portage — the gate- 
way to the far-stretching Winnipeg, Saskatch- 
ewan, and Assiniboin water systems — during 
these palmy days of the fur traffic, Wash- 
ington Irving has given us a vivid descrip- 
tion in his charming Astoria. 

A large share of their peltries were shipped 
to China upon United States vessels, for the 
reason that, owing to the East India Com- 
pany's maritime monopoly in the Orient, 
American captains could traffic in Chinese 
ports to better advantage than British sub- 
jects. 1 

1 See ante, p. 20. 

53 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Reducing competition to the two great 
companies did much to dignify the trade, and 
profits were greater than under the irrespon- 
sible strife of former days. But all along the 
undefined border-line between the two, each 
rival freely distributed liquor among the sav- 
ages, embittered them against the opposition, 
and indulged in a fierce contention for su- 
premacy which sometimes induced predatory 
expeditions and not infrequent shedding of 
blood. This condition of affairs lasted for 
many years. In 1795 a secession from the 
North- West Company — long brewing, and ap- 
parently fomented by Alexander Mackenzie, of 
whom we shall presently hear — was brought 
to a head by the organization of the X Y 
Company. Rivalry between these two Mon- 
treal concerns at once attained a warmth here- 
tofore unknown, which lasted until the death 
of McTavish in 1804, the year of Lewis and 
Clark's expedition, when they united. 

Mackenzie, a hardy and restless young 
Highlander, had been a prominent agent of 
the Montreal Company, which had opposed 
Frobisher and McTavish. When the union 
of 1787 was consummated he was given 

54 



Mackenzie's Adventures 

charge of the Athabasca department. Here 
he was thrown into communication with In- 
dians who remembered the exploits of Hearne, 
the Hudson's Bay Company's explorer, and 
soon Mackenzie was eager to undertake ex- 
plorations even more extended. 

Upon the third of June, 1789, the adven- 
turous agent set out from Fort Chepewyan, 
on the south shore of Lake Athabasca. His 
little fleet consisted of four birch-bark canoes 
— his own, manned by a crew of four Cana- 
dians and one German, two of the former be- 
ing accompanied by their squaws ; the second, 
occupied by the guide and interpreter, Eng- 
lish Chief, an Indian who had accompanied 
Hearne upon the Coppermine Eiver, the 
chief's two wives, and two young Indians ; 
the third, by the chief's followers ; and the 
fourth, a trading boat, which also contained 
ammunition, supplies, and presents for the In- 
dians — this craft being in charge of Le Koux, 
a company clerk, who proceeded as far as 
Great Slave Lake, where he was ordered to 
build a fort. 

Mackenzie was an experienced woodsman, 
and well understood the Indian character, so 

55 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

that his trials were more easily borne than 
those which befall men less expert in the ways 
of the forest. Nevertheless, upon the placid 
pages of the unpretentious journal which he 
eventually published (1801) it is plainly to 
be seen that the party experienced much suf- 
fering and were subjected to not a few 
dangers. Mosquitoes, the greatest pest of 
the northern wilderness, tormented them un- 
ceasingly ; the portages were numerous, often 
difficult, and always fatiguing ; the savages 
were fickle, and sought to plunder and desert 
them at critical stages ; and cold and rain, 
and sometimes shifting ice, added to their 
miseries. 

Skirting Lake Athabasca, they entered 
Snake River, which was known to them, and 
on the ninth reached Great Slave Lake. 
Leaving Le Roux on the twenty-fifth to trade 
with the natives on this dismal inland sea, 
the explorer pushed on along the shore to the 
southwest, and four days later entered a here- 
tofore unknown river, which was henceforth 
to bear his name. This he descended with 
his little fleet, until on Sunday, July 12th, he 
sighted the Arctic Ocean, which was filled 

56 



On Arctic Shores 

with ice-floes, between which were spouting 
whales. Two days later, after many annoy- 
ances from thievish Eskimos, "I ordered a post 
to be erected close to our tents, on which I en- 
graved the latitude of the place [69° 14' IN.], 
my own name, the number of persons which 
I had with me, and the time we remained 
there." Four weeks later (September 12th) 
he was back again at Fort Chepewyan, having 
" concluded this voyage, which had occupied 
the considerable space of one hundred and 
two days." 

Mackenzie was quick to put to commercial 
use his knowledge of the country north and 
west of Lake Athabasca, and during the next 
two years extended thither the trade of the 
North- West Company, which thus flanked its 
Hudson's Bay rival. His heart was, however, 
in exploration. Realizing that his knowledge 
of mathematical and astronomical instruments 
was too meager for success in this work, he 
went to London in 1791 — a journey of great 
difficulty from the far northwest — and 
passed the winter there in the study of these 
necessary tools of the explorer. 

The following autumn (October 10, 1792) 

57 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

he left Fort Chepewyan with two canoes, 
again skirted the great lake to Slave River, 
and then ascended its southwest tributary, 
Peace River, determined this time to reach 
the Pacific Ocean. At the falls, whither he 
had despatched an advance party to erect a 
palisaded trading house, the party wintered, 
hunting and trading with the Indians. On 
the eighth of May six canoes were sent back 
with furs to Fort Chepewyan, and the follow- 
ing day Mackenzie started up the river with 
his friend and colleague, Alexander Mackay, 
six Frenchmen, and two Indian hunters and 
interpreters. Their conveyance was a birch 
canoe twenty-five feet long, but " so light, that 
two men could carry her on a good road three 
or four miles without resting. In this slender 
vessel, we shipped provisions, goods for pres- 
ents, arms, ammunition, and baggage, to the 
weight of three thousand pounds, and an 
equipage of ten people." 

Thenceforth the expedition met with innu- 
merable "discouragements, difficulties, and 
dangers." The rapids were numerous, involv- 
ing toilsome use of setting-poles and towing- 
lines ; the canoe was not infrequently broken ; 

58 



On Pacific Tidewater 

the frequent portages often involved almost 
insuperable difficulties; and more than once 
the voyageurs and Indians of the party, their 
clothing in shreds, footsore, and fatigued, 
were in sullen discontent, believing "that 
there was no alternative but to return." But 
Mackenzie, with Scotch persistence, would 
not hear of turning back, and adroitly checked 
the incipient mutiny. 

After laboriously climbing over the moun- 
tainous divide and trying several west-flow- 
ing waters, the party decided on the turbu- 
lent Tacouche Tesse (subsequently called Fra- 
ser Eiver), which they descended for many 
days. Finding, however, that this would be 
a long and hazardous road, and that the na- 
tives reached the sea by an overland trail, 
Mackenzie left the river on the fourth of 
July. For fourteen days the little company 
plodded through the dense forest, some- 
times on dizzy trails over snow-clad moun- 
tains, until they reached a rapid river, upon 
which "we embarked, with our small bag- 
gage, in two canoes, accompanied by seven of 
the natives." After portaging around falls 
and visiting several bands of Indians who had 

59 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

had dealings with American coast traders, in 
two days they reached an arm of the sea. 
" The tide was out, and had left a large space 
covered with sea- weed. The surrounding hills 
were involved in fog." The dream of Y6- 
rendrye had at last been realized — the conti- 
nent had been spanned from east to west by 
the northern route. 

Proceeding to the main coast, the explorer 
was visited by several canoe-loads of the na- 
tives, who expressed great astonishment at 
his astronomical instruments, at the same time 
freely pilfering from his stores and by their 
insolence testing his unfailing tact and cour- 
age. He makes this triumphant entry in his 
record : " I now mixed up some vermilion in 
melted grease, and inscribed, in large charac- 
ters, on the South-East face of the rock on 
which we had slept last night, this brief me- 
morial — ' Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada 
by land, the twenty-second of July, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and ninety-three.' " 

The following day they set forth upon the 
hazardous return, and on the twenty-fourth 
of August reached Fort McLeod, their win- 
tering place on Peace River. "Here," says 

60 



Crowned with Success 

the modest Mackenzie in his journal, which 
is as thrilling as well as informing a tale of 
adventure as has come down to us from those 
heroic days of Rocky Mountain exploration, 
"here my voyages of discovery terminate. 
Their toils and their dangers, their solicitudes 
and sufferings, have not been exaggerated in 
my description. On the contrary, in many 
instances, language has failed me in the at- 
tempt to describe them. I received, however, 
the reward of my labours, for they were 
crowned with success." 



61 



CHAPTEK IV 

THE MISSOURI A PATH TO THE PACIFIC 

From the time of the earliest explorations 
by white men in the Mississippi Valley there 
was current a strong belief in the existence of 
a west-flowing river, lying somewhere beyond 
a gentle divide, which would, when discov- 
ered, afford the canoeist easy access to the 
Pacific Ocean — provided it were established 
that the Mississippi itself did not pour its 
flood into that great sea. Jolliet and Mar- 
quette (1673) satisfied themselves that the 
Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of Mexico 
(p. 23), but they looked upon the Missouri 
as the undoubted road to the westering water- 
way ; and the missionary tells us in his jour- 
nal that he became imbued with a strong de- 
sire to carry the gospel to the tribes along its 
banks. 1 

1 Marquette's journals and map are in Jesuit Relations 
(Thwaites's ed Cleveland, 1896-1902), lix. 

62 



Straits of Anian 

The Indians, not themselves given to ex- 
ploration, despite their periodical wanderings 
upon the hunt and the war-trail, and with 
geographical knowledge often confined to a 
comparatively narrow belt of forage, soon dis- 
covered that a water-passage to the Pacific 
was eagerly sought by the whites ; and forth- 
with amused the latter by inventing tales of 
such streams, myths which found their way 
into the numerous maps of North America 
drawn by cartographers at the European capi- 
tals. Some of these stories had a long life 
and led to many curious theories and futile 
explorations. One chart of 1700 (Lugten- 
berg's), which antedated Verendrye's Indian 
map by some thirty years, showed a waterway 
from Lake Superior to the western " Straits of 
Anian." The Baron Lahontan, an imagina- 
tive French traveler who in 1703 published a 
nowfamousbookupon North America, claimed 
to have himself been upon the sources of the 
west-flowing stream. 

The belief that the Missouri had a branch 
leading to the Pacific, thus affording a trade 
route to Japan and China, figures prominently 
in French despatches in 1717-18. In 1719 

63 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

two adventurers, La Harpe and Du Tisne, 
conducted independent explorations of the 
Missouri, searching for this mythical water- 
way, but after some two or three hundred 
miles of futile journeying abandoned their 
undertakings. Three years later De Bourg- 
mont, acting for the Company of the Indies, 
established Fort Orleans on the north bank 
of the Missouri, near the entrance of Grand 
River, the design being to hold the Missouri 
Valley against the Spanish traders who were 
operating from the northwest, and to protect 
settlers — particularly Germans — who were 
now coming into the country. In 1739 we 
read of an expedition led by two Frenchmen 
named Mallet, who reached the plains of Col- 
orado by way of the southern fork * of the 
Platte; thence traveling overland to the 
south, they spent the winter at Santa Fe. 
Half of the party crossed the plains to the 
Pawnee Indians, while the others descended 
the Arkansas to the Mississippi. Bienville, 
then Governor of Louisiana, judged from the 
reports of this enterprise that the country 
visited was a part of China — showing how 
long-lived was the old theory that North 

64 



An Aboriginal Geneologist 

America was an outlying portion of Asia. 
He accordingly sent a second expedition up 
the Arkansas, but its members returned with- 
out reaching the Orient. 

In 1753, at a time when the French still 
entertained a hope of finding the river flow- 
ing westward from the neighborhood of the 
Missouri, there was published, in Paris, Du- 
mont's Memoires de la Louisiane, containing 
a remarkable detailed narrative of explora- 
tion, obtained from Le Page du Pratz, sub- 
sequently author of a Histoire de la Louisi- 
ane, which gave a modified version of the 
tale. Du Pratz claimed that about 1725 he ob- 
tained the relation from an old and garrulous 
Yazoo Indian named Moncacht-Ape\ The 
story goes, that about the year 1700 this inter- 
esting aborigine, bent on gathering knowledge 
regarding the history of his people, traveled 
toward the sunrise through the country of 
the Chickasaws until he reached the Atlan- 
tic Ocean, incidentally gaining knowledge of 
Niagara and the great tides of the Bay of 
Fundy. Disappointed at not finding the 
genealogical information desired, he at first 
returned home and then sought the land of 

65 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

the setting sun. At first traveling north- 
ward, he went to the Ohio River, crossed the 
Mississippi near the mouth of the Missouri, 
ascended the latter, wintered among the 
Missouri Indians, reached the sources of the 
river, crossed the mountainous divide, and, 
like Lewis and Clark, descended the Colum- 
bia to the sea. Here the natives induced him 
to join in a deadly attack on a party of 
bearded white men who came to the coast to 
trade. The inquisitive savage now journeyed 
to the north until the days grew longer, and 
there learning that the land beyond was " cut 
through from north to south " — wherein we 
recognize Bering's Strait — he returned to his 
home on the Mississippi, his thirst for genea- 
logical knowledge still unsatisfied. He was 
absent upon this fruitless quest, eastward 
and westward, about five years, but thought 
he could repeat his travels in thirty-two 
moons. While it is possible that a journey 
bearing some distant resemblance to this was 
once undertaken, no doubt the tale grew 
largely in the telling, and some of the most 
important details are now regarded as apoc- 
ryphal. Nevertheless, it long won wide cre- 

66 



Jefferson's Early Interest 

dence, 1 and affected the maps of both French 
and English cartographers until near the close 
of the eighteenth century. 

It will be remembered that the North- 
West Company was organized at Montreal in 
1783. In the same year John Ledyard pub- 
lished an account of Captain Cook's third 
and last voyage (1778). These two events 
caused a marked revival of interest in Lon- 
don in the Northwest Passage, or in any 
transcontinental route which promised an 
easy path to the Pacific, and thus to China 
and Japan. Thomas Jefferson was then liv 
ing in retirement in Virginia, but keenly re 
ceptive to all suggestions which aimed at ex 
tending the bounds of human knowledge 
The fact that the country beyond the Mis 
sissippi was practically an unknown land, 
awakened his curiosity to know more of it. 
Twenty years before he finally despatched 
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark upon 
the errand of breaking a path across the con- 

1 In the Revue d' Anthropologic, in 1881, Quatrefages gives it 
full credence, on ethnological grounds; but Andrew McFar- 
land Davis's critique on Quatrefages's conclusions (in Proc. 
American Antiquarian Soc, April, 1883, pp. 321-348) gives us 
a saner view. 

6 67 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

tinent, we find him desirous, although Spain 
still possessed the trans-Mississippi, of foster- 
ing a similar enterprise of exploration. Wri- 
ting from Annapolis on the 4th of December, 
1783, to General George Rogers Clark, the 
hero of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, and elder 
brother of the explorer, he says : 

" I find they have subscribed a very large 
sum of money in England for exploring the 
country from the Missisipi to California. 
. . . they pretend it is only to promote 
knoledge. I am afraid they have thoughts 
of colonising into that quarter. . . some 
of us have been talking here in a feeble way 
of making the attempt to search that country, 
but I doubt whether we have enough of that 
kind of spirit to raise the money, how 
would you like to lead such a party ? . . . 
tho I am afraid our prospect is not worth 
asking the question." 1 

Nothing came of this proposal. It is not 
known whether Clark even replied to it. Ten 
years later, that popular idol of the border 
fell into disgrace through his miserable in- 

1 The original MS. is in the Draper Collection, library of the 
Wisconsin Historical Society, its press-mark being " 52 J 93." 

68 



John Ledyard 



trigue with Genet, of whom we shall presently 
hear more; twenty years later, his young 
brother won imperishable renown in doing 
the very thing which Jefferson had proposed 
to him. 

Jefferson was a persistent man. Three 
years after his letter to Clark, and while 
minister to the French court, he made more 
serious overtures to another adventurer — 
John Ledyard, a picturesque character, then 
perhaps the best known of American travel- 
ers. Born in the Connecticut town of Gro- 
ton in 1751, he early developed a fondness 
for roving. While an undergraduate at 
Dartmouth he absented himself from col- 
lege to visit the tribesmen of the Six Na- 
tions in New York. Afterward a theolog- 
ical student, he left school before taking or- 
ders, to enter as a common sailor on a ship 
bound for the Mediterranean. At Gibraltar 
Ledyard enlisted in a British regiment, with 
which he soon went to the West Indies. In 
1778 we find him a corporal of marines under 
Captain Cook, on that famous mariner's third 
voyage around the world; and it was his 
journal of that tour (published in 1783) 

69 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

which stirred Christendom with news of 
Cook's great discoveries. 

Finally deserting the British naval service, 
Ledyard, now among his Connecticut friends 
after eight years' absence, conceived the plan 
of fitting out a fur-trading expedition to ex- 
plore the Northwest Coast. Going to Europe 
in 1784, he found it difficult to raise means 
for his ambitious project, and when he finally 
reached Paris was disheartened. The Ameri- 
can minister made his acquaintance (1786), 
and tells us in his autobiography : * 

"He ... being out of business, and 
of a roaming, restless character, I suggested to 
him the enterprise of exploring the Western 
part of our continent, by passing thro St. 
Petersburg to Kamschatka, and procuring a 
passage thence in some of the Russian vessels 
to Nootka Sound, whence he might make his 
way across the continent to America ; and I 
undertook to have the permission of the Em- 
press of Russia [Catherine II] solicited. He 
eagerly embraced the proposition, and M. 
de Semoulin, the Russian Ambassador, and 

1 Ford's Writings of Thomas Jefferson, i, pp. 94-96. 

70 



Stopped by Russia 

more particularly Baron Grimm, the special 
correspondent of the Empress, solicited her 
permission for him to pass thro' her domin- 
ions to the Western coast of America . . . 
the Empress refused permission at once, con- 
sidering the enterprise as entirely chimerical. 
But Ledyard would not relinquish it, per- 
suading himself that by proceeding to St. 
Petersburg he could satisfy the Empress of 
its practicability and obtain her permission. 
He went accordingly, but she was absent on 
a visit to some distant part of her dominions, 
and he pursued his course to within 200 miles 
of Kamschatka, where he was overtaken 
[February, 1788] by an arrest from the Em- 
press, brought back to Poland, and there 
dismissed." 1 

"Disappointed, ragged, and penniless, but 
with a whole heart," the unfortunate Ledyard 

1 In a letter by Jefferson to an American correspondent, writ- 
ten at Paris, September 1, 1786 (Ford, iv, pp. 298, 299), he gives 
this somewhat more detailed account of the project : u A coun- 
tryman of yours, a Mr. Lediard, who was with Capt. Cook on 
his last voyage, proposes either to go to Kamschatka, cross 
from thence to the Western side of America, and penetrate 
through the Continent to our side of it, or to go to Kentucke, 
& thence penetrate Westwardly to the South sea, the vent [he 
went] from hence lately to London, where if he finds a passage 

71 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

arrived in London, where lie was at once be- 
friended by sympathizers in his project, who 
secured him employment to lead an expedi- 
tion to the center of Africa, whither he at 
once set out. He reached Cairo, but died 
there in January, 1789. 1 

In December, 1789, General Henry Knox, 
Washington's Secretary of War, secretly 
wrote to General Josiah Harmar, then com- 
manding the Western frontier at Cincinnati, 
calling his attention to the desirability of ob- 
taining " official information of all the West- 
ern regions," and asking him to "devise some 
practicable plan for exploring that branch of 
the Mississippi called the Messouri, up to its 



to Kamschatka or the Western coast of America he would avail 
himself of it : otherwise he proposes to return to our side of 
America to attempt that route. I think him well calculated for 
such an enterprise, & wish he may undertake it." 

In another letter, written September 20, 1787 (Ford, v, p. 448), 
Jefferson adds, relative to Ledyard : "He is a person of in- 
genuity & information. Unfortunately he has too much im- 
agination. However, if he escapes safely, he will give us new, 
curious, & useful information." 

1 See his life, in Sparks's American Biography— a thrilling 
story of adventure, of which we have given but the barest out- 
line. Jefferson's brief account of Ledyard's Russian experi- 
ences omits the numerous romantic details of this audacious 
enterprise. 

72 



Armstrong's Expedition 

source," and possibly beyond to the Pacific. 
After conferring with General Arthur St. 
Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory, 
General Harmar selected for this purpose 
Captain John Armstrong, then in command 
at Louisville, and widely known as an ex- 
plorer and woodsman. The following spring 
Armstrong, entirely alone, " proceeded up the 
Missouri some distance above St. Louis," with 
the intention of eventually crossing the moun- 
tains to the Pacific ; " but, meeting with some 
French traders, was persuaded to return in 
consequence of the hostility of the Missouri 
bands to each other, as they were then at 
war, and he could not safely pass from one 
nation to the other." Knox's proposed expe- 
dition, therefore, came to naught. 

Jefferson was the next to make a venture 
in transcontinental exploration. His third 
trial resulted in an even more dramatic fail- 
ure than the Ledyard affair. The central 
figure was Andre Michaux, a French bota- 
nist, born in Versailles in 1 746. Michaux had, 
in the interests of science, visited various 
countries in Europe and Asia. Returning 
from Asia in 1785, he was sent by his Govern- 

73 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

ment to New York, to conduct a botanical 
nursery from which American trees and 
shrubs were to be removed to and natural- 
ized in France. After extensive journeys 
through the new States on the Atlantic slope, 
Michaux started a nursery near Charles- 
ton, S. C, and ascending the Savannah 
River spent some time among the Southern 
Indians, among whom he exercised much in- 
fluence. In the course of his wide range of 
travel he visited the Bahamas and Florida, 
and in the summer of 1788 crossed the Alle- 
ghanies. 

Upon the outbreak of the French Revolu- 
tion Michaux's official stipend ceased, and his 
private funds were thenceforth used in con- 
tinuing the investigation of American flora. 
In April, 1792, he started upon a long jour- 
ney into the subarctic region around Hud- 
son Bay, but beyond the Saguenay was de- 
serted by his guides and obliged to retrace 
his steps, arriving in Philadelphia the follow- 
ing December. 

Laying before the American Philosophical 
Society — then almost the only organization 
for the encouragement of scientific studies in 

74 



Instructions to Michaux 

America — a plan for conducting an explora- 
tion to the Northwest Coast, his project was 
at once indorsed. 1 Jefferson, now Secretary 
of State in Washington's Cabinet, and prom- 
inent in the councils of the society, was par- 
ticularly pleased with the thought of having 
so eminent a scientist enter upon an under- 
taking which had for a decade been close to 
his heart. His official co-operation was at 
once tendered, and preparations were soon 
under way. The society appears to have be- 
come responsible for the funds, but Jefferson 
assumed some part in the direction of the 
enterprise. 

In the instructions which Jefferson issued 
to Michaux in January, 2 this versatile states- 
man gave evidence of a careful study of the 
conditions which would be met in the course 
of the exploration. He tells the botanist 
that the society would procure for him a con- 
veyance to Kaskaskia " in company with the 
Indians of that town now in Philadelphia." 

1 The society opened a subscription for this purpose, the sum 
thus raised being $128.25. Of this Washington subscribed 
$25, and Jefferson and Hamilton $12.50 each. 

2 Full text in Ford, vi, pp. 158-161. 

75 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Michaux is ordered to " cross the Mississippi 
and pass by land to the nearest part of the 
Missouri above the Spanish settlements, that 
you may avoid the risk of being stopped." 
He is then to " pursue such of the largest 
streams of that river as shall lead by the 
shortest way and the lowest latitudes to the 
Pacific ocean ... It would seem by the 
latest maps as if a river called Oregon, inter- 
locked with the Missouri for a considerable 
distance, and entered the Pacific ocean not 
far southward of Nootka Sound." But as 
these maps are " not to be trusted," the ex- 
plorer is in this respect left to his own de- 
vices. 

He is enjoined to "take notice of the 
country you pass through, its general face, 
soil, rivers, mountains, its productions — ani- 
mal, vegetable, and mineral " ; astronomical 
observations are to be taken ; the aborigines 
are to be studied in detail ; and, " under the 
head of animal history, that of the mammoth is 
particularly recommended to your inquiries." 
Like Washington, in instructing his Ohio 
Biver surveyors, the versatile Jefferson de- 
scends to such details as telling Michaux how 

76 



Genet's Conspiracy 

to write his notes— on skins, and " the bark 
of the paper-birch, a substance which may 
not excite suspicions among the Indians, and 
little liable to injury from wet or other com- 
mon accidents." He is to return to Phila- 
delphia and report in detail to the society, 
although privileged himself to publish cer- 
tain portions of his journal that may be 
agreed upon between them. 

Jefferson furnished the explorer with a 
letter of introduction to Governor Shelby, of 
Kentucky, and upon the fifteenth of July Mi- 
chaux left Philadelphia on his way westward. 
No doubt the latter had been quite sincere 
in his proposition to explore the trans-Missis- 
sippi country. But Genet had arrived at 
Charleston in April as the minister of France, 
charged with the secret mission of forming a 
filibustering army of American frontiersmen 
in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Kentucky to 
attack the Spanish possessions on the Gulf of 
Mexico and beyond the Mississippi. Michaux 
was selected as Genet's agent to deal with 
the Kentuckians, led by George Kogers Clark, 
who had proposed, under the banner of 
France, to descend the Mississippi with fifteen 

77 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

hundred frontiersmen and attack New Or- 
leans. This use of the intending explorer 
was unofficially confessed to Jefferson by- 
Genet ten days before the former's de- 
parture. 1 

Michaux proceeded no farther west than 
Kentucky, and spent the rest of the year act- 
ing as go-between for Clark and Genet. In 
December we find him in Philadelphia, be- 
cause Genet had postponed operations until 
spring, and early in 1794 he was back in 
Charleston looking after his nursery. Clark 
is assured in March that Michaux will return 
to Kentucky by the middle of April. But 
Washington had by this time taken a firm 
stand in opposition, troops were sent to the 
border to prevent the expedition, the now 
discredited Genet was recalled by his Gov- 
ernment, and Michaux's diplomatic services 
were no longer required. 2 

*See Turner's Correspondence of Clark and Genet, in Re- 
port of Historical Manuscripts Commission of American His- 
torical Association for 1896, p. 933; also Turner's The Sig- 
nificance of the Louisiana Purchase, in Review of Reviews for 
May, 1903. 

2 In his Introduction to Biddle's version of Lewis and Clark's 
Travels (Philadelphia, 1814), Jefferson would have it appear 

78 



Michaux's Later Life 

After further botanical explorations among 
the Kentucky hills, this scientific adventurer 
sailed for France in August, 1796. The ves- 
sel in which he embarked being wrecked off 
the Holland coast, he lost all save his collec- 
tions, with which he finally reached France, 
where the Government and the savants re- 
ceived him with unusual honors. In his long 
absence, however, the nurseries which he had 
privately established at Rambouillet, chiefly 
for the acclimatization of foreign plants, had 
been ruined by neglect ; of the sixty thou- 
sand American specimens which he had sent 
thither few remained. But far from being 
discouraged, Michaux set himself bravely to 
the task of repairing his losses, and to the 
publication of several important works. 
In 1800 he accompanied an official expe- 
dition to Madagascar, and two years later 
lost his life from fever contracted while 
breaking ground for a new botanical garden. 

that Michaux had no sooner reached Kentucky than he was re. 
called and bade "to pursue elsewhere the botanical inquiries 
on which he was employed." This is not borne out by the 
documents in the case. Michaux was in active correspondence 
with the Kentucky conspirators for fully eight months after his 
arrival among them. 

79 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Thus his plans for returning to America for 
the completion of the botanical discoveries, 
which had greatly interested him, came to 
naught. It is fair to presume that had this 
energetic traveler and scientist not fallen un- 
der the malign influence of the Clark-Genet 
intrigue, and thus wandered from the line 
of professional duty, he would have suc- 
ceeded in the great task of transcontinental 
exploration for which Jefferson had selected 
him. 



80 



CHAPTER V 

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE 

Upon the eve of the downfall of New 
France, when the inevitable was plainly fore- 
seen, Louis XV, in order to prevent England 
from obtaining them, ceded to Spain (No- 
vember, 1762) the town and neighborhood 
of New Orleans and the broad possessions of 
France west of the Mississippi. The follow- 
ing year, by the Treaty of Paris, she lost to 
England all of her holdings east of the great 
river. Spain remained in possession of the 
trans- Mississippi country until 1800. Napo- 
leon, just then dreaming of another New 
France in the western half of North Amer- 
ica, as well as desiring to check the United 
States in its development westward, in that 
year (October 1st) coerced the court of Ma- 
drid into a treaty of retrocession. Under this 
agreement Spain was to receive as recom- 

81 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

pense the improvised " Kingdom of Etruria," 
in northern Italy, to be governed by the 
Duke of Parma, son-in-law of the Spanish 
king ; she was also to retain East and West 
Florida, which Napoleon had sought, but de- 
spite Spanish subserviency could not obtain. 1 

That the great. Corsican desired to establish 
a strong colonial empire to the west of the 
United States, controlling the Gulf of Mexico 
and the entire Mississippi Valley, there is now 
no doubt. Immediately after the retroces- 
sion of Louisiana, a large French expedition 
occupied the island of Santo Domingo, and an- 
other corps was destined for New Orleans ; 
but the army in Santo Domingo was at once 
confronted by a native negro revolution, and 
the occupation of New Orleans, timed for 
October, 1802, was accordingly deferred. 

These movements naturally alarmed Presi- 
dent Jefferson, for New Orleans was the key 
to the continental interior. James Monroe 

1 See Senor Jeronimo Becker's article in La Espana Moderna 
for May, 1903, wherein the Spanish side of the story is given. 
He says that the tricky Talleyrand promised Spain that the ces- 
sion was but nominal, and that the latter might still retain pos- 
session of Louisiana. As late as 1815 Spain still entertained 
hopes of regaining the province through English diplomacy. 

82 



The West Dissatisfied 

was sent as a special envoy to Paris (March, 
1803) to seek the purchase of New Orleans 
and the Floridas, with a view of securing to 
our Western settlers the free navigation of 
the Mississippi. The denial of this privilege 
by Spain, and the threatened denial by 
France, had been the cause of long-continued 
dissatisfaction among the trans-Alleghany 
borderers, who at that time cared more for 
an opening for their surplus products than 
they did for the Federal union — to them as 
yet a shadowy thing, controlled by men 
of the Atlantic slope, unknowing and in- 
different, they thought, to the needs of the 
West. 

Jefferson was strongly impressed by the 
demands of the frontiersmen ; but as a man 
of peace apparently would have been willing, 
if unable to secure any French territory at the 
mouth of the river, to accept a free naviga- 
tion agreement from France, rather than have 
an armed contest with that power. He ap- 
pears to have thought that eventually an al- 
liance with England might win still further 
concessions from Paris. It is not evident that 
at this time his interest in the country west 
7 83 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

of the river went further than a desire to dis- 
cover within it a path to the Pacific. 

Affairs were in this unsatisfactory condi- 
tion, promising ill for the future of the young 
nation, when the French minister, Talleyrand, 
greatly surprised the American minister at 
Paris, Robert R Livingston, by proposing 
(April 11th) that the United States buy all 
of Louisiana. The reason for this sudden 
change of heart was, that Napoleon had de- 
termined on a new war with England. This 
ambitious military enterprise required more 
money than he then possessed ; he feared that 
England's navy might, during the struggle, 
capture the approaches to Louisiana ; by pre- 
viously disposing of the territory to the 
United States he would not only obtain 
funds, but would thwart his enemy, and 
assist in rearing a formidable rival to her in 
North America. 

Monroe had just arrived at Paris, bearing 
instructions authorizing Livingston and him- 
self to pay $2,000,000 for New Orleans and 
the Floridas. This new proposition came to 
them as unexpectedly as " a bolt from the 
blue." The only method of communicating 

84 



Our Territory Doubled 

with Washington was by the ocean mails, 
which were then very slow. The First Con- 
sul insisted on haste, for he needed the money 
at once ; war was soon to be declared between 
France and England, and in brief time the 
latter might seize the Gulf of Mexico, and thus 
win Louisiana for herself. 

Our envoys were equal to the emergency. 
Lacking opportunity to consult with the Presi- 
dent, they realized that delay might mean de- 
feat, and promptly entered upon negotiations. 
At the end of a week's discussion, during 
which his brothers Lucien and Joseph bitterly 
opposed the sequestration of this vast colonial 
possession, Napoleon arbitrarily directed his 
finance minister, Marbois, to sign a treaty 
(April 30th) 1 with the American repre- 
sentatives, by which Louisiana, with its ill- 
defined boundaries, was sold to the United 
States for $15,000,000. 2 Thus was our ter- 
ritory doubled at a few strokes of the pen. 
When Livingston, the principal American ne- 

1 Such is the date of the document ; but the actual signing 
was on May 2d. 

2 The actual price was $11,250,000, in addition to which the 
United States agreed to pay certain debts owing our citizens by 
France, amounting to $3,750,000. 

85 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

gotiator, rose after signing, he shook hands 
with his colleague and Marbois, saying : ft We 
have lived long, but this is the noblest work 
of our lives ! " 

It was the early days of July before the 
news of this remarkable diplomatic negotia- 
tion reached Washington. Needless to say, 
it awakened uncommon excitement at the na- 
tional capital. Captain Meriwether Lewis was 
in town, obtaining from the President final 
instructions before starting upon his great 
exploring expedition to the Pacific, an enter- 
prise which was now placed upon a far dif- 
ferent footing from the original intention. 
When, upon the fifth of the month, he bade 
farewell to his friends at the White House, 
and left for the West, he left behind him a 
partizan squabble upon the issue of which 
hung the future of the United States as a 
world power. 

In this dispute the Federalists bitterly op- 
posed, while the Republicans favored, the 
proposed purchase of foreign territory. Jef- 
ferson himself, on constitutional grounds, en- 
tertained strong scruples against the transac- 
tion. He was but slowly won to the theory 

86 ' 



A Continental Nation 

that the treaty-making power was sufficient 
to warrant the purchase, without an amend- 
ment to the Constitution. 

The treaty itself arrived in Washington the 
fourteenth of July, and was ratified by Con- 
gress on the nineteenth of October following ; 
but it was some time before New England be- 
came reconciled, prophetically fearing that the 
acquisition of so much new territory, which 
was eventually to be formed into voting States, 
would result in throwing the balance of po- 
litical power into the West. There was even 
some talk in that section of secession, because 
of this threatened loss of prestige. In the 
end, however, all concerned became reconciled 
to the contemplation of a United States ex- 
tending across the continent. Florida, Texas, 
and California later followed in natural se- 
quence — not without qualms upon the part 
of many ; but the great struggle had been 
fought out over the Louisiana Purchase, and 
the power of territorial expansion accepted 
as a constitutional doctrine. 1 

1 "Perhaps most fundamental of all in its effects is the em- 
phasis which the Louisiana Purchase gave to the conception of 
space in American ideals. The immensity of the area thus 

87 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Although Spain ceded Louisiana to France 
in October, 1800, and the latter had now sold 
the territory to the United States, the French 
Government had not in the meanwhile found 
it convenient to take formal possession of the 
region. Spanish officials at New Orleans and 
St. Louis were still governing the sparse 
population, 1 consisting chiefly of easy-going 
French Creoles, with several small groups of 
American bordermen who had been induced 
to become Spanish subjects by liberal offers 
of rich land along the west bank of the Mis- 
sissippi and the lower reaches of the Missouri. 
Among these were Daniel Boone and several 
of his sons and old neighbors in Kentucky 
and West Virginia. Sighing for elbow-room 
and broader hunting-grounds, and not a little 
disgruntled over the restrictions to liberty and 
the legal technicalities which confronted men 
in the older settlements, they had established 

opened to exploitation has continually stirred the Americans' 
imagination, fired their energy and determination, strengthened 
their ability to handle vast designs, and made them measure 
their achievements by the scale of the prairies and the Rocky 
Mountains." — Dr. Frederick J. Turner's The Significance of 
the Louisiana Purchase, in Review of Reviews for May, 
1903. 
1 Estimated at 50,000 whites. 

88 



Spain Disturbed 

themselves not far from the French village of 
St. Charles. 

The fact that Spain had never formally 
surrendered to France possession of Louisi- 
ana, although three years had elapsed since 
the Treaty of St. Ildefonso, did not disturb 
the mind of Napoleon. But the court of 
Spain was of the opinion that that treaty had 
not been properly observed and that the 
cession was void, particularly as France had 
engaged " not to retrocede Louisiana to any 
other power." The Spanish minister served 
notice to this effect on the American Govern- 
ment. This merely served to hasten the 
preparations of the French charge d'affaires 
at Washington, who at once forwarded in- 
structions to his colleague in New Orleans, 
where the message arrived on November 23d. 
Both French and Spanish commissioners 
agreed promptly to carry out the programme 
of cession. 

A proper regard for legal forms rendered 
essential two ceremonies of transfer — of Spain 
to France, and of France to the United States. 
At New Orleans, on the thirtieth of Novem- 
ber, the Spanish commissioners, with much 

89 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

formality, surrendered Louisiana to the repre- 
sentative of France, Pierre Clement Laussat. 
Seventeen days later, the American commis- 
sioners, William C. C. Claiborne (appointed 
to be governor of the new territory) and Gen- 
eral James Wilkinson, arrived by ship with 
a small escort of troops, and camped near the 
town. Upon the twentieth of December the 
French representative delivered to the Ameri- 
cans the keys of the capital, and absolved all 
French residents from their oath of allegiance 
to France ; the tricolor of France was hauled 
down, after its brief service of twenty days, 
and the Stars and Stripes replaced it amid 
salvos of artillery and the playing of a regi- 
mental band. 

Early in January, Laussat served upon 
Charles Dehault de Lassus, the lieutenant- 
governor of Upper Louisiana, at St. Louis, an 
order from the Spanish commissioners to sur- 
render that region to such person as Laussat 
might name : that person being Captain Amos 
Stoddard, of the United States army, detailed 
to serve as American transfer commissioner, 
and now stationed at the military post of Kas- 
kaskia, on the east side of the Mississippi. 

90 



The Transfer 

Stoddard appears to have spent much of 
the winter in St. Louis, the gay little capital 
of the region, where he, no doubt, almost 
daily met Captain Meriwether Lewis, of the 
Lewis and Clark exploring expedition, then 
passing the winter at Eiver Dubois, also on 
the east side opposite the mouth of the 
Missouri. On the ninth of March the Ameri- 
can troops were brought in boats across the 
river, under the command of Stoddard's ad- 
jutant, Lieutenant Stephen Worrell, and es- 
corted Stoddard, Lewis, and other Americans 
to the government house. Here De Lassus 
read a proclamation ; addressed the villagers 
as they congregated in the square fronting his 
residence, releasing them from their oath of 
fidelity to France ; and with Stoddard signed 
a formal document of transfer, to which 
Lewis among others placed his signature as 
witness. Artillery salutes greeted the Ameri- 
can flag as it was hoisted on the official staff, 
and the day closed with expressions of mutual 
good-will. At last the great purchase had 
been consummated at all points, and the en- 
tire breadth of the continent was now open 
to American exploitation. 

91 



CHAPTEE VI. 



ORGANIZATION OF LEWIS AND CLARETS 
EXPEDITION 



We have seen that as early as 1783 Jef- 
ferson, then in private life, entertained a hope 
that he might be able to set on foot an expe- 
dition, to be led by George Eogers Clark, for 
the discovery of a path across the Rocky 
Mountains, connecting the Missouri River 
with Pacific tide- water. Nothing coming of 
this, three years later, while minister to France, 
he induced the adventurous John Ledyard to 
attempt to cross from Kamchatka and trav- 
erse the North American continent from the 
west. Because of the jealousy of Russia, 
this project also failed. Intertribal wars 
upon the Missouri caused the abandonment 
of an expedition undertaken in 1790 by di- 
rection of General Henry Knox, Washington's 
secretary of war. As secretary of state, Jef- 
ferson returned to the charge, and in 1793 — 
the year of Mackenzie's brilliant exploit — 

92 



Jeffer 



son's Zeal 



through the agency of the American Philo- 
sophical Society, despatched Michaux, the 
French botanist, upon a mission similar to 
the one tentatively proposed to Clark ten 
years before. But with the miserable snding 
of the Michaux affair we are familiar. 

Ten years now elapsed, with no develop- 
ments in Rocky Mountain exploration upon 
the part of Americans. Jefferson had be- 
come President in 1800, and was deeply im- 
mersed in the multifarious incidents of office. 
Yet his early yearning for the discovery of 
an overmountain path to the Pacific had not 
lessened. 

The lapse in the winter of 1802-03 of an 
" act for establishing trading houses with the 
Indian tribes," gave him the opportunity 
sought. In a secret message to Congress 
(January 18th) the President urges that trade 
with the Western aborigines be more assidu- 
ously cultivated than hitherto, and that they 
be encouraged to abandon the hunting life in 
favor of agriculture and the domestic arts. 
Adroitly he leads up to the desirability of 
reaching out for the trade of the Indians on 
the Missouri River, which now is absorbed 

93 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

by English companies ; and then suggests 
that the friendship of these savages may best 
be secured through the visit of an exploring 
party. 

" An intelligent officer," he writes, " with 
ten or twelve chosen men fit for the enter- 
prise and willing to undertake it, taken from 
posts where they may be spared without in- 
convenience, might explore the whole line, 
even to the Western Ocean, have conferences 
with the natives on the subject of commercial 
intercourse, get admission among them for 
our traders as others are admitted, agree on 
convenient deposits for an interchange of 
articles, and return with the information ac- 
quired in the course of two summers. Their 
arms and accouterments, some instruments of 
observation, and light and cheap presents for 
the Indians would be all the apparatus they 
could carry, and with an expectation of a sol- 
dier's portion of land on their return would 
constitute the whole expense." The country 
which he thus proposed to explore was the 
property of France, although still governed 
by Spain ; but Jefferson thinks that the latter 
nation would regard the enterprise merely 

94 



A Modest Appropriation 

" as a literary pursuit," and " not be disposed 
to view it with jealousy, even if the expiring 
state of its interests there did not render it a 
matter of indifference." 

An estimate of the necessary expenses, 
drawn by the President's private secretary, 
Captain Meriwether Lewis, accompanied the 
message, showing that $2,500 was thought to 
be sufficient for the purpose. The entire pay 
of the party being chargeable to the War 
Department, also their rations previous to 
leaving United States soil, of course these 
important items did not enter into the calcu- 
lation. Jefferson, a born diplomat, proposes 
that this modest sum be appropriated "for 
the purpose of extending the external com- 
merce of the United States," it being under- 
stood by the Executive that this would 
signify legislative sanction of his projected 
exploration. An appropriation so phrased 
"would cover the undertaking from notice 
and prevent the obstructions which inter- 
ested individuals might otherwise previous- 
ly prepare in its way." Congress acceded to 
the President's request. 

Meriwether Lewis, who now enters upon 

95 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

the stage of history, was born of good family 
near Charlottesville, Va., in 1774. From 
childhood he had been in local repnte as a 
hunter and amateur botanist, and his cele- 
brated neighbor, Thomas Jefferson, evinced 
great fondness for him. At the age of twenty 
he served as a private in the Virginia militia, 
during the Whisky Rebellion in western 
Pennsylvania, and at the close of the dis- 
turbance was employed in the regular army — 
originally as ensign in the First Infantry, but 
in two years rising (1797) to a captaincy in 
the same regiment. While in this last ca- 
pacity he was regimental paymaster, and as 
such traveled extensively among the frontier 
posts in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky, 
In 1792, when Jefferson was negotiating with 
Michaux, Lewis applied for the post of ex- 
plorer ; but his old neighbor evidently 
thought that a youth of eighteen years, even 
with such training as his bright young friend 
possessed, was as yet unfitted for a mission of 
this magnitude. In 1801 he appointed Cap- 
tain Lewis as his private secretary, and no 
doubt from this time forward there were 
frequent animated conversations at the White 

96 




w 

W 

M 

W 
H 



p£3 
ft 



c3 

w 

a 
ft 










c3 






Jefferson and Lewis 

House table over the exploration of the Mis- 
souri route to the Pacific. As early as July, 
1802, the prospect of carrying their plans 
into effect was deemed favorable by the 
President and his secretary. Lewis again ap- 
plied for the leadership of the expedition, 
and this time his ambition was promptly 
gratified. Thereafter the two friends — Jef- 
ferson in his sixtieth year, and Lewis in his 
twenty-eighth — were the leading spirits in 
this daring enterprise. 

Jefferson has placed on record 1 this gener- 
ous tribute to Lewis : " I had now had oppor- 
tunities of knowing him intimately. Of cour- 
age undaunted; possessing a firmness and 
perseverance of purpose which nothing but 
impossibilities could divert from its direction ; 
careful as a father of those committed to his 
charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order 
and discipline ; intimate with the Indian char- 
acter, customs, and principles ; habituated to 
the hunting life ; guarded, by exact observa- 
tion of the vegetables and animals of his own 
country, against losing time in the description 
of objects already possessed ; honest, disinter- 

1 Introduction to Biddle's edition of the Travels, i, pp. xi, xii. 

97 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

ested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a 
fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever 
he should report would be as certain as if 
seen by ourselves — with all these qualifica- 
tions, as if selected and implanted by nature in 
one body for this express purpose, I could 
have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise 
to him." 

Jefferson fully realized that, connected with 
a model exploring expedition, there should be 
trained scientists, to make calculations as to 
latitude and longitude, to report upon the 
fauna, flora, and mineralogy of the country, 
and to make ethnological and philological 
notes upon the aborigines whom they should 
meet. But, as he told a correspondent: 1 
" We can not in the U. S. find a person who 
to courage, prudence, habits & health adapted 
to the woods, & spme familiarity with the 
Indian character, joins a perfect knowledge 
of botany, natural history, mineralogy & as- 
tronomy, all of which would be desirable. 
To the first qualifications Captain Lewis my 
secretary adds a great mass of accurate obser- 

1 Dr. Caspar Wistar, of Philadelphia ; letter in Ford, viii, p. 
192. 

98 



Preparations Under Way 

vation made on the different subjects of the 
three kingdoms as existing in these states, not 
under their scientific forms, but so as that he 
will readily seize whatever is new in the 
country he passes thro', and give us accounts 
of new things only ; and he has qualified him- 
self for fixing the longitude &> latitude of the 
different points in the line he will go over." 

Congress having proved complaisant, prep- 
arations were hurried forward. During April 
Lewis was engaged at Lancaster, Harper's 
Ferry, and elsewhere, conferring with military 
and other authorities upon the West, build- 
ing boats, and superintending the manufac- 
ture and collection of weapons, scientific in- 
struments, and miscellaneous supplies. Some 
weeks were then spent in Philadelphia, in 
company with several scientific men whose 
good offices had been sought by Jefferson ; 
from them Lewis learned the rudimentary 
methods of taking astronomical observations, 
and obtained much detailed advice upon the 
scientific side of the expedition. 

Early in May the President submitted to 
his friend a l c rough draft " of detailed in- 
structions, which were afterwards finished 

. Lot C. 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

and signed on the twentieth of June. In 
this important document Jefferson enters 
with his love of detail into the methods to 
be adopted by the expedition after leaving 
United States territory. He sends to Lewis 
passports from both the Spanish and French 
ministers, permitting this " literary " party to 
pass through their territory ; and one from the 
British minister, to insure respect from Cana- 
dian traders. Beginning at the mouth of the 
Missouri, the explorers are to take frequent 
astronomical observations; note the courses 
and distances of the rivers traveled upon; 
seek the fullest possible data of every sort re- 
garding Indians along the path ; make record 
of the soils, minerals, vegetable productions, 
animal life, and climate; and to ascertain 
facts relative to the sources of the Missis- 
sippi, the position of the Lake of the Woods, 
and the paths followed by Canadian traders in 
their intercourse with the Western Indians. 
Lewis is to cultivate among the savages a de- 
sire to trade with Americans, and in every way 
to conciliate them ; if possible, a party should 
be brought back on a friendly visit to Wash- 
ington. In order to obtain all the informa- 

100 



Jefferson's Instructions 

tion possible, and to guard against the loss 
of it, the leader is required not only himself to 
keep detailed journals, but- to encourage 
others of his party to do so ; to " put into cy- 
pher whatever might do injury if betrayed " ; 
to use, if practicable, " the paper of the birch, 
as less liable to injury from damp than com- 
mon paper." If they meet with a superior 
force representing another nation, they are to 
return, for " in the loss of yourselves, we 
should lose also the information you will have 
acquired ... by returning safely with 
that, you may enable us to renew the essay with 
better calculated means ... we wish you 
to err on the side of your safety, & bring back 
your party safe, even if it be with less infor- 
mation." Upon reaching the Pacific coast, he 
is to " learn if there be any port within your 
reach frequented by the sea-vessels of any 
nation, and to send two of your trusty people 
back by sea, in such way as shall appear 
practicable, with a copy of your notes " — or 
he may, in his judgment, have the entire party 
" return by sea by way of Cape Horn or the 
Cape of Good Hope, as you shall be able." 
In order that this plan might be carried out, 

101 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

a "letter of general credit," signed by the 
President, was forwarded to Lewis, asking 
" of the Consuls, agents, merchants & citizens 
of any nation with which we have inter- 
course or amity to furnish you with those 
supplies which your necessities may call for, 
assuring them of honorable and prompt retri- 
bution." 

Lewis deeming it advisable to have a com- 
panion upon the expedition who, while sec- 
ond in command, should be of equal military 
rank with himself, Jefferson acceded. There- 
upon Lewis sent a cordial note of invitation 
to his boyhood friend William Clark, of Ken- 
tucky; but pending a reply, by the Presi- 
dent's consent he made an arrangement with 
another friend, Lieutenant Moses Hooke, of 
his old regiment, now military agent at Pitts- 
burg, by which he was to go in case Clark 
declined. The latter, however, agreed to the 
proposition, and joined the expedition upon 
its way down the Ohio River. 

Like Lewis, William Clark was by birth a 
Virginian. The Clark and Lewis families 
were firm friends and neighbors in Caroline 
County, William having been born on the 

102 



William Clark 

old Clark estate in 1770, four years previous 
to the man with whose name his memory will 
forever be linked. He was yet a small boy 
when his older brother, George Eogers, began 
his brilliant career upon the Western borders. 
When fourteen years of age, his father, John 
Clark, moved to Mulberry Hill, on Bear- 
grass Creek, near Louisville, Ky. This new 
home soon became a center of hospitality for 
a wide district, and William grew up in close 
friendship with the most distinguished Ken- 
tuckians of his day, who were frequently 
guests of the family. 

Young Clark was a general favorite. In 
March, 1791, when in his twenty-first year, 
he was appointed a lieutenant with General 
Scott upon special service. A friend convey- 
ing this information to one of his elder broth- 
ers, wrote concerning him : " William . . . 
is a youth of solid and promising parts, and 
as brave as Caesar." A year later he was 
a lieutenant of infantry in regular service in 
Wayne's Western army, and concluded his 
four years' experience in fighting Indians by 
participating in the battle of Fallen Timbers 
(1796), at the head of his company. On two 

103 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

occasions General Wayne sent Captain Clark 
upon missions to the Spaniards west of the 
Mississippi, and he appears to have impressed 
these gentlemen as an officer deserving of 
much respect. 

Upon the conclusion of the treaty of Green- 
ville, being in ill-health, the young captain 
resigned from the army and retired to a Ken- 
tucky farm, on which he was dwelling when 
the letter arrived from Lewis, inviting him to 
join the Western exploring expedition. This 
letter "offered by the apprb n of the Presi- 
dent," afterward wrote Clark, 1 "to place me 
in a situation in every respect equal to himself, 
in rank pretentions &c &c." Clark had ex- 
pected appointment as captain of engineers ; 
but just before starting up the Missouri the 
following spring, was disappointed by receiv- 
ing only the commission of a second lieutenant 
of artillery. However, Lewis assured him 
that a commission was needed only as an au- 
thority to punish the soldiers in the party if 
necessary, and that Clark's "command &c, 
&c, should be equal to his." With this assur- 

1 Letter in Coues's Lewis and Clark, New York (1891), pp. 
lxxi, lxxii. 

104 



Colleagues and Friends 

ance, lie sensibly smothered his pride and 
said nothing further about the affair. As a 
matter of fact, the journals of the expedition 
reveal that Lewis, while nominally in com- 
mand, consistently regarded Clark as his offi- 
cial equal, both being styled by all connected 
with the party as "Captain." Throughout 
all the trying experiences of the three years 
during which they were united, their respect 
and friendship for each other but deepened 
and strengthened — a record far from com- 
mon among exploring parties. 

Parting from Jefferson, at Washington, on 
the fifth of July — a few days after receipt 
of the news from Paris announcing the Louisi- 
ana Purchase — Lewis had expected to leave 
Pittsburg for the descent of the Ohio by the 
last week of that month. But the man who 
was building his boat " shamefully detained " 
him, through periodical drunkenness, for a 
full month after this. The stage of water in 
the Ohio was the lowest up to that time 
recorded, and the young explorer was freely 
advised not to attempt the voyage that sea- 
son. But, as he wrote the President, he was 
" determined to get forward though I should 

105 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

not be able to make a greater distance than a 
mile p r day." At seven in the morning of the 
thirty-first of August the boat was ready for 
the water, and by ten the expedition was under 
way. He had often, with his small crew, 
to cut his way through sand-bars and riffles, 
and in a few cases was obliged to use horses 
and oxen. "I find them," he writes, "the 
most efficient sailors in the present state of 
the navigation of this river." 

Word had been sent in advance to the com- 
manders of the military posts on the Ohio 
and Mississippi — chiefly Southwest Point, 
Massac, and Kaskaskia — to call for volunteers 
for the expedition. There was no lack of 
these, but the qualifications named by Lewis 
were so exacting that upon his arrival at each 
station some difficulty was experienced in 
making suitable selections ; so that the busi- 
ness of recruiting added materially to the 
delay. Finally, he found fourteen soldiers 
who pleased him ; to these he added nine Ken- 
tucky frontiersmen of special merit, who were 
sworn in as privates, for the expedition was 
organized throughout on a military basis. Of 
the party, also, was Clark's negro servant, 

106 



In Winter Camp 

York, a man of uncommon size and strength, 
destined to figure prominently in the annals 
of the exploration. All were young, unmar- 
ried, and in robust health. 

It had been the original intention of Lewis 
to go into winter quarters at La Charette, a 
small French village, the highest settlement 
on the Missouri — a point which the expedi- 
tion, the following spring, spent seven days 
in reaching. But for several reasons this 
plan was not carried out. The delays on the 
Ohio had been so numerous that December 
was a third past before the explorers arrived 
at River Dubois, a small stream emptying 
into the Mississippi nearly opposite the 
mouth of the Missouri. Although the news 
of the sale of Louisiana to the United States 
had reached Washington early in July, the 
Spanish commandant at St. Louis had had 
no official notification of this event, and the 
policy of his Government was such that he 
did not feel authorized to grant permission to 
the expedition to enter territory still under 
his charge ; moreover, a letter from President 
Jefferson, dated November 16 th, had suggested 
that the season was now too far advanced to 

107 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

make much progress up the Missouri, while 
by encamping on the American side the men 
could draw their winter rations from the 
War Department, without entrenching on 
the special appropriation. 

The expedition constructed a winter camp 
on River Dubois, and spent the succeeding 
five months in careful preparation for the ar- 
duous task which confronted it to the west- 
ward. 



108 



CHAPTEK VII 

FEOM EIVEE DUBOIS TO THE MANDANS 

Although as a body the expedition was 
restricted to its winter's camp on the east 
side of the Mississippi, the leaders not infre- 
quently visited their military friends at the 
neighboring American posts of Cahokia 
and Kaskaskia, and — especially Lewis — were 
often guests at the houses of leading citizens 
in the village of St. Louis, on the west side. 
To Clark, for the most part, appears to have 
fallen the task of building boats and drilling 
the men for the forthcoming task; while 
Lewis purchased supplies and made extend- 
ed inquiries regarding the Missouri River 
country, which had been explored as far up 
as the Mandan villages by many of the 
French fur-traders and voyageurs who cen- 
tered at St. Louis. We have already seen 
that Lewis was one of the official witnesses of 

109 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

the transfer of Upper Louisiana, upon the 
ninth of March. During the winter, also, the 
party received several accessions, chiefly of 
French Canadians more or less familiar with 
the Missouri country. 

At four in the afternoon of the fourteenth 
of May, 1804, " all in health and readiness 
to set out," the expedition left camp at 
River Dubois, " in the presence of many of 
the neighboring inhabitants, and proceeded 
on under a jentle brease up the Missourie." * 
Clark was in charge of the embarkation, for 
Lewis was attending to the last business de- 
tails in St. Louis. The flotilla consisted of 
three craft — a keel boat fifty-five feet long, 
drawing three feet of water, carrying a sail, 
propelled by twenty-two oars, with both fore- 
castle and cabin, and the center guarded by a 
breastwork, for attacks from Indians were 
feared, especially on the lower reaches of the 
Missouri ; a pirogue or open boat with seven 
oars, and another with six, both of them car- 

1 In all citations from the official journals kept by the leaders, 
we follow the original manuscripts, now in the possession of the 
American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, and soon to be 
published verbatim under the editorship of the present writer. 

110 



/*t-*r^*«-« <*»y sCoc4.&-<r*^ (?L*L~ t^- c-i,^, S~<~y7 








P 



— =3 / 

^^^ ^C^-*-> o^L^s^ *^ g^^^^'- ^^ 

^ 2^? <~*~^ ^*-^, ^*— 






A PAGE OF CLARK'S JOURNAL. 

Original now in possession of the American Philosophical Society at 

Philadelphia. 




Personnel of the Expedition 

rying sails. The party comprised, in addition 
to Clark, three sergeants (Ordway, Pryor, 
and Floyd), twenty- three privates, two inter- 
preters (Dronillard and Charbonneau), Char- 
bonneau's Indian squaw Sacajawea, and the 
negro York. 1 

Lewis had not expected Clark to leave 
until the fifteenth, but the latter's plans were 

1 The personnel of the expedition was : 

Meriwether Lewis, captain in First United States Infantry, 
commanding. 

William Clark, second lieutenant in United States Artillery. 

Sergeants — John t Ordway, Nathaniel Pryor, Charles Floyd — 
and Patrick Gass, succeeding Floyd on the latter's death (Au- 
gust 20, 1804). 

Privates — William Bratton, John Colter, John Collins, 
Peter Cruzatte, Reuben Fields, Joseph Fields, Robert Frazier, 
George Gibson, Silas Goodrich, Hugh Hall, Thomas P. Howard, 

Francis Labiche, La Liberte, Hugh McNeal, John Potts, 

George Shannon, John Shields, John B. Thompson, William 
Werner, Joseph Whitehouse, Alexander Willard, Richard 
Windsor, Peter Wiser. 

Interpreters — George Drouillard and Toussaint Charbonneau. 

Indian woman — Sacajawea ( u bird woman "), Charbonneau's 
wife. 

Clark's negro slave, York. 

Two soldiers, John Newman and M. B. Reed, set out with 
the expedition, but were punished for misconduct, and in April, 
1805, sent back to St. Louis. In Newman's place, Baptist Le- 
page enlisted at Fort Mandan, November 2, 1804, and remained 
with the party until the discharge of all the men at St. Louis, 
November 10, 1806. 

Ill 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

perfected a day ahead of time, and he was anx- 
ious to be off. Arriving the following noon 
at St. Charles, then a French hamlet of some 
four hundred and fifty inhabitants — "pore, 
polite & harmonious," his journal aptly de- 
scribes them — he lay there until the twentieth 
when his friend joined him, the latter having 
been accompanied twenty-four miles overland 
from St. Louis by several citizens of that place 
and a small knot of United States military offi- 
cers, who had but recently taken part in the 
territorial transfer from France. At their 
head was Captain Stoddard, serving as mili- 
tary governor of Upper Louisiana pending 
its reorganization by Congress. 

The people of St. Charles hospitably enter- 
tained the visitors, and on the following day 
the expedition set out u under three Cheers 
from the gentlemen on the bank." During 
the succeeding two or three days many set- 
tlers flocked to the shores to watch the little 
fleet toiling up the great muddy stream, and 
good-naturedly to wish the company joy in 
their great undertaking. 

Difficulties commenced immediately. Vio- 
lent currents swept around the great sand- 

112 



Difficult Navigation 

bars, in which the boats were often danger- 
ously near swamping. Snags were numerous, 
and against these sprawling obstructions they 
were frequently hurled violently by the swirl- 
ing waters ; several times masts were broken 
by being caught in the branches. Now and 
then war-trails were seen, and a close watch 
was deemed essential to avoid possible surprise 
by bands of prowling savages, jealous of this 
formidable invasion of their hunting-grounds. 
Farther up the river — by the third week of 
September — high shelving banks, now and 
then undermined by the current and falling 
into the river in masses often many acres in 
extent, gave them great alarm ; and not infre- 
quently their craft, swept by the current to 
the foot of such an overhanging bluff of sand 
and clay, were in serious danger. 1 

1 In a letter to his mother, dated Fort Mandan, March 31, 
1805, Lewis states : " So far we have experienced more diffi- 
culties from the navigation of the Missouri than danger from the 
savages. The difficulties which oppose themselves to the navi- 
gation of this immense river arise from the rapidity of its cur- 
rent, its falling banks, sand-bars and timber which remains 
wholly or partially concealed in its bed, usually called by the 
navigators of the Missouri and the Mississippi ; sawyer ' or 
' planter ' 

" one of these difficulties the navigator never ceases to 

113 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

The expedition was obliged, as it pro- 
gressed, to live upon the country. While the 
majority of the company were employed in 
the arduous duty of navigating the craft which 
conveyed the arms, ammunition, instruments, 
articles for traffic with the Indians, and general 
stores, hunting was a task of the first impor- 
tance. At least two hunters were out almost 
constantly, and these led two horses along 
the bank, to bring the abundant meat to the 
camping places. Frequently they were 
joined by others of the party, detailed for 
shore duty; and almost always one of the 
captains, generally Lewis, joined the pedes- 
trians, himself engaged in collecting botanical 

contend with from the Entrance of the Missouri to this place ; 
and in innumerable instances most of these obstructions are at 
the same instant combined to oppose his progress or threaten 
his destruction. To these we may also add a fifth, and not much 
less considerable difficulty — the turbed quality of the water — 
which renders it impracticable to discover any obstruction, even 
to the depth of a single inch. Such is the velocity of the current 
at all seasons of the year, from the entrance of the Missouri to 
the mouth of the great river Platte, that it is impossible to re- 
sist its force by means of oars or poles in the main channel of 
the river; the eddies which therefore generally exist on one 
side or the other of the river, are sought by the navigators, but 
these are almost universally encumbered with concealed timber, 
or within reach of the falling banks." 

114 



Entering the Wilderness 

and other scientific specimens and making 
notes npon the country. 

On the twenty-fifth of May the explorers 
passed La Charette, the last white settlement 
on the river — the home of Daniel Boone, still 
a vigorous hunter at a ripe old age. Upon the 
sixth of June buffalo signs were seen ; on the 
eleventh they first shot bears. Five days later 
two small rafts were met, manned by French 
and half-breed traders from the Mandan coun- 
try, and bearing buffalo tallow and furs to 
St. Louis. One of these men, named Dourion, 
who had lived with the Sioux for twenty 
years and gained their confidence, was per- 
suaded to turn back with the expedition in 
order to induce that tribe to send a friendly 
delegation to visit the new Great Father at 
Washington. 

Rapids were now frequently met with, 
necessitating the use in the swift water of 
towing-lines and kedge-anchors, a work much 
impeded by heavy growths, along the banks, 
of bushes and gigantic weeds. " Ticks and 
musquiters," and great swarms of "knats," 
begin to be "verry troublesome," necessita- 
ting smudge fires and mosquito-bars. The 
9 115 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

men frequently suffer from snake-bites, sun- 
stroke, and stomach complaints. Both Lewis 
and Clark now play the part of physicians, and 
administer simple though sometimes drastic 
remedies for these disorders; the journals 
make frequent mention of strange doses and 
vigorous bleeding. Sometimes storms drench 
them in their rude camp ; or, suddenly burst- 
ing upon their craft in open river, necessitate 
great ado with anchors and cables until the 
flurry is over — as once, "when the Storm 
Sudenly Seased and the river became In- 
stancetainously as Smoth as Glass." 

Reaching Platte River on the twenty-second 
of July, they lay by for several days and sent 
for some Oto and Missouri chiefs, who were 
informed of the change of government and 
made happy with presents of flags, medals, 
and trinkets, and promises of future trade ; 
the proceeding being graced with an Indian 
feast and much savage ceremony. 

On the eighteenth of August, as they ap- 
proached the Omaha Indians, a disagreeable 
event occurred. Two of the men, M. B. Reed 
and La Liberte, sent upon errands into the 
country, deserted. The captains were not dis- 

116 



Death of Floyd 

posed to countenance such conduct, for desert- 
ers could work great injury by making false 
representations about them and the motives 
of the expedition. Search parties were there- 
fore sent out. Both were caught, but La 
Liberte contrived again to escape. Reed, 
confessing his fault, was not condemned to 
death, but obliged to "run the gauntlet" 
four times, each of his former comrades be- 
ing armed with nine switches, and then was 
ignominiously dismissed the service, although 
held until the following spring. 

Two days later occurred the first and only 
death. Sergeant Charles Floyd, a man of 
firmness and resolution, being " taken verry 
bad all at once with a Biliouse Chorlick . . . 
Died with a great deal of composure." This 
event took place a short distance below the 
present Sioux City, about eight hundred and 
fifty miles above the mouth of the Missouri. 
Patrick Gass was elected his successor. 

Upon the thirtieth and thirty-first of the 
month, at a point within Knox County, Ne- 
braska, a somewhat elaborate camp was estab- 
lished, at which a large party of Sioux chiefs 
and their followers, brought in by Dourion, 

117 ' 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

were entertained with the customary cere- 
monials of speaking, dancing, and feasting. 
Clark's record of the affair gives much de- 
tailed information about the dress, customs, 
numbers, and trade of these people. He 
quaintly relates that their savage visitors were 
"much deckerated with Paint Porcupine quils 
feathers, large leagins and mockersons, all with 
buffalow roabs of Different Colours." 

The explorers were now in a paradise of 
game. Great herds of buffaloes, sometimes 
five thousand strong, were grazing in the 
plains, the fattest of them falling easy victims 
to the excellent aim of the hunters. Elk, 
deer, antelopes, turkeys, and squirrels were 
abundant, and gave variety to their meals, for 
which the navigators generally tied up at the 
bank and joined the land party around huge 
camp-fires. Prairie-dogs, whose little bur- 
rows punctured the plains in every direction, 
interested the explorers. One day there was 
a general attempt to drown out one of these 
nimble miners ; but although all joined for 
some time in freely pouring water down the 
hole, the task was finally abandoned as im- 
practicable. Prairie-wolves nightly howled 

118 



Abundant Game 

about their camps in surprising numbers and 
in several varieties. 1 

"Worn by the fatigue of a day's hard work 
at the oars or the towing-line or pushing- 
pole, or perhaps by long hours of tramping 
or hunting upon the rolling plains, which 
were frequently furrowed by deep ravines, 
each member of the party earned his night's 
rest. But as they lay under the stars, around 
the generous fires of driftwood, great clouds 
of mosquitoes not infrequently robbed them 

i From Lewis's letter to his mother, previously cited : u Game 
is very abundant, and seems to increase as we progress — our 
prospect of starving is therefore consequently small. On the 
lower portion of the Missouri, from its junction with the Mis- 
sissippi to the entrance of the Osage river we met with some 
deer, bear and turkeys. From thence to the Kancez river the 
deer were more abundant. A great number of black bear, 
some turkeys, geese, swan and ducks. From thence to the 
mouth of the great river Platte an immense quantity of deer, 
some bear, elk, turkeys, geese, swan and ducks. From thence 
to the river S [ioux] some bear, a great number of elks, 
the bear disappeared almost entirely, some turkeys, geese, swan 
and ducks. From thence to the mouth of the White river vast 
herds of buffalo, elk and some deer, and a greater quantity of 
turkeys than we had before seen, a circumstance which I did 
not much expect in a country so destitute of timber. Hence 
to Fort Mandan the buffalo, elk and deer increase in quantity, 
with the addition of the Cabie [cabra], as they are generally 
called by the French engages, which is a creature about the 
size of a small deer. Its flesh is deliciously flavored." 

119 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

of sleep. The two leaders were possessed of 
mosquito-bars, which generally enabled them 
to rest with comparative comfort, although 
sometimes even these were ineffectual; but 
apparently none of the others enjoyed these 
luxuries, and buried their heads within their 
blankets, almost to the point of suffocation. 
Once they had camped upon a sand-bar, in mid- 
river. By the light of the moon the guard saw 
the banks caving in above and below. Alarm- 
ing the sleepers, they had barely time to launch 
and board their boats before the very spot 
where they had lain slipped into the turbid 
current. In the upper reaches of the river, the 
following year, grizzly bears and stampeded 
buffalo herds were added to the list of night 
terrors. 

It was not always possible for the land and 
water parties to make connections for the 
night camps. The hunters and walkers were 
often obliged to take long detours into the 
interior, either in search of game or because 
of deep ravines or of steep bluffs bordering 
upon the river ; and sometimes a cat-short 
was taken, to avoid the frequent bends of 
the winding stream. The heavy growth of 

120 



Perils Ashore 

timber and bushes along the banks often 
rendered it impossible for the land party to 
trace or even to see the water. The result 
was, that not infrequently the pedestrians 
and horsemen would lose sight of the boats- 
men, and then it was impossible to say 
whether the former were above or below the 
latter. In the last week of August, one of 
the men, George Shannon, having the horses 
in charge — there were now several of them in 
the little herd — lost touch with his fellows 
and thought them ahead of him. For six- 
teen days he hurried on, without bullets to 
shoot game, and not only lost all his horses 
but one, but when finally caught up with by 
his comrades was in a starving condition. 
We shall, in future chapters, see that even 
the leaders were sometimes lost in this man- 
ner and obliged to camp out alone in the 
wilderness, uncertain whether to hurry or to 
tarry. 

Lewis and Clark owed much of their suc- 
cess to tactfulness in treating with the Indi- 
ans whom they met in their long journey. 
During the first season out they had but one 
disagreeable incident on this account. At 

121 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

the mouth of Teton River (September 25th) 
was an encampment of Sioux, who stole the 
horse of a hunter. The two captains sent 
word to the village chiefs that they would 
not speak to the tribesmen until the horse 
had been returned. 

The ceremonious red men thereupon ar- 
ranged with the strangers for a council, which 
took place under an awning reared upon a 
sand-bar at the mouth of the Teton. The 
animal was restored, and the head men were 
shown the boats, each being given a drink of 
whisky, "which they appeared to be verry fond 
of." When the whites expressed a wish to 
leave, some of the young bucks seized the 
painter of a pirogue and wished forcibly to 
detain their visitors, from whom they sought 
more presents. Growing insolent, one or two 
of them even drew their bows and arrows ; 
whereupon, writes Clark, "I felt My Self 
warm & spoke in verry possitive terms." The 
men were ordered under arms, and thrusting 
the Indians aside, the expedition pushed on 
for a mile up-stream. Here the boats were 
anchored off an island and heavily guarded 
for the night. " I call this Island," records 

122 



The Teton Sioux 

Clark, " bad humered Island as we were in a 
bad humer." 

The tribesmen, recognizing that the explor- 
ers were not to be cowed, became friendly, 
and Lewis and Clark deemed it prudent to 
accept the proffered friendship of this pow- 
erful band, through whose country they must 
pass upon the return. During the two fol- 
lowing days councils were held in the village 
council-house, with feasting, dancing, and 
much smoking and oratory. There was still, 
however, a disposition among some of the 
pugnacious young warriors to stop the expe- 
dition ; and when leave was taken on the 
third day, the white captains informed them 
that if the Sioux wanted war with the new 
Great Father they could have it, but if peace, 
then they were to keep their young bucks at 
home and do as they were told. One of the 
friendly chiefs concluded to travel for a way 
upon one of the large boats, which had awa- 
kened his admiration ; but after two days of 
navigation the motion of the craft in high 
waves caused him to beg to be put ashore, and 
he was sent off with presents and good advice. 

On the eighth of October they reached the 

123 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Arikara country and went into camp near 
their chief village — "a pleasent evening — 
all things arranged both for Peace or War." 
Two French traders and several of their men 
were found here, and from them they ob- 
tained much information about the country 
and its savage inhabitants. These soon came 
crowding about the camp, filled with wonder 
at the newcomers and their outfit. The ex- 
plorers strove hard to amuse the visitors. 
Lewis's air-gun was a source of great aston- 
ishment. But the dusky audience were par- 
ticularly surprised at York, who did not lose 
this opportunity to display his phenomenal 
strength. The bulky negro told the Indians 
that he had once been a wild animal, but had 
been caught and tamed by his master. His 
acrobatic performances and facial contortions, 
combined with his feats of strength, succeeded 
in frightening the simple audience ; indeed, 
Clark tells us he " made himself more turri- 
bal than we wished him to doe." The result 
was, however, that at the several villages 
which the expedition, amid much ceremonial, 
visited during the next few days, it was 
treated with marked civility. 

124 



Savage Teetotalers 

An unpleasant event occurred on the thir- 
teenth, when one of the men, J. Newman, was 
"confined for mutinous expression." That 
night they tried him "by 9 of his Peers — 
they did Centence him 75 Lashes & Dis- 
banded [from] the party." He was, how- 
ever, retained in custody until the arrival of 
spring. 

Almost daily, now, they met hunting bands 
of Arikaras, by whom they were pleasantly 
entertained in exchange for the trinkets which 
were bestowed upon the delighted savages. 
One of the chiefs volunteered to accompany 
the explorers as far as their friends the Man- 
dans, among whom Lewis and Clark desired 
to winter. The Sioux had expressed fondness 
for spirituous liquors ; but the Arikaras were 
otherwise inclined, and when the white stran- 
gers offered it to them, as a makeweight for 
friendship, grew indignant. Clark writes 
that they " say we are no friends or we would 
not give them what makes them fools." 

In the closing week of the month the Man- 
dans were at last found in several riverside 
villages, and the Arikara chief, after hobnob- 
bing with his friends, warmly bade farewell 

125 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

to the agents of the Great Father, and pad- 
dled back to his own people. The principal 
Mandan village was on a bluff overlooking 
the Missouri, above the present Bismarck, 
N. Dak. Three miles below, "on the north 
side of the river in an extensive and well 
timbered bottom," the expedition settled itself 
for the winter within huts of cotton-wood 
logs surrounded by a stout palisade of the 
same timber, the establishment being named, 
"in honor of our friendly neighbors," Fort 
Mandan. 1 

In reaching this point, 1,600 miles above 
the mouth of the Missouri, they had occupied, 
including delays of every sort, one hundred 
and seventy-three days, thus making an aver- 
age progress of a trifle over nine miles a day. 

1 On the north bank of the Missouri, probably seven or eight 
miles below Knife River, in what is now McLean County. 



126 



CHAPTEE VIII 

AT FORT MANDAN 

During the five months spent at Fort 
Mandan the leaders were never free from 
care, for their position was one involving 
danger and the necessity for exercising both 
tact and firmness. At first the Mandans, 
while nominally friendly, quite naturally sus- 
pected the motives of these newcomers. 
With the French trappers and traders who 
either dwelt or frequently sojourned among 
them in behalf of the British fur companies, 
they were on intimate terms ; and the Scotch, 
Irish, and English agents of these organiza- 
tions were received upon their periodical 
visits with much consideration. The aims of 
these white men from the north were similar 
to their own — the preservation of the wilder- 
ness as a great hunting-ground, the only ex- 
ploitation permissible being that which con- 
tributed to the market for pelts. 

127 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

There were found among the Mandans 
several French and British representatives of 
the North West Company, just then in bitter 
rivalry with the Hudson's Bay Company, as 
well as some independent traders. Some of 
the Frenchmen had lived for years among 
these people, with native wives and half-breed 
children. During the winter numerous agents 
of the North West Company came on horse- 
back overland from their log forts in the As- 
siniboin country to obtain news concerning 
the transfer of Louisiana, and to satisfy their 
curiosity concerning the expedition ; if possi- 
ble, to thwart it, for the American invasion 
was looked upon with aversion. During 
their long stay, in the course of which they 
frequently enjoyed the hospitality of the fort, 
these emissaries sought, while pretending 
friendship, to poison the minds of the Indians 
by spreading their own ill opinions of Lewis 
and Clark. 1 They circulated rumors that the 

1 In the journal of Charles MacKenzie, one of these traders, it 
is stated that Lewis and Clark always seemed glad to see their 
visitors from Canada, and treated them with kindly civility. 
But Lewis, though he " could speak fluently and learnedly on 
all subjects," had an "inveterate disposition against the Brit- 
ish"; while Clark, "equally well informed," conversed pleas- 
antly and " seemed to dislike giving offence unnecessarily." 

128 



British Intrigue 

coming of the American explorers was soon 
to be followed by an army of settlement and 
the consequent death of the fur trade — a 
prophecy more expeditiously realized than 
they themselves could possibly have foreseen. 

It required the utmost exertions of the 
leaders of the expedition to overcome this 
subtle opposition. In the end, however, they 
succeeded. The chiefs were plainly told that 
the United States now owned the country, 
that loyalty to the Great Father at Washing- 
ton was henceforth obligatory, and that they 
must no longer receive medals and flags from 
the British. At the same time, they were in- 
formed that the exploration had no other 
object than to acquaint the Great Father with 
his new children, and that upon its return 
arrangements would be made for sending 
traders into the country, with better goods 
and fairer treatment than had hitherto been 
obtained from the Canadian companies. Long 
before the close of the winter Lewis and 
Clark had gained a fair degree of popularity 
among these simple people, and the British 
agents were correspondingly discomfited. 

The daily duties of the fortified camp were 

129 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

largely under the conduct of Clark, who was 
the more practical woodsman of the two. 
Lewis took upon himself, chiefly, the diplo- 
matic task of visiting and ceremoniously 
smoking pipes with the Indians in their sev- 
eral villages, in which journeys he was 
accompanied by one or two French inter- 
preters and a body-guard of half a dozen of 
his own men — the latter, a precaution some- 
times quite necessary to personal safety. In 
the neighborhood were several winter camps 
of Grosventres and other tribes, on friendly 
terms with the Mandans. Sometimes native 
bands were met, for whom no direct inter- 
preters could be obtained. On such occasions 
the method of communication was round- 
about : the Indians would address Sacajawea, 
the wife of Charbonneau ; speaking no Euro- 
pean tongue, she passed on the remark to her 
husband, a Frenchman ; he in turn told the 
story to a mulatto, " who spoke bad French 
and worse English " ; and the mulatto finally 
told the captains. 

Such linguistic difficulties would have ap- 
palled most men; but in the course of the 
winter Lewis and Clark obtained in this man- 

130 







»• / . //jr. " • AT- /4- 



/ f 



/ a / " 

A PAGE OF LEWIS'S JOURNAL. 

Original now in possession of the American Philosophical Society at 

Philadelphia. 



Folk- Lore Neglected 

ner a mass of information concerning the 
characteristics, life, manners, and languages 
of the Indians which was quite remarkable. 1 
The explorers have, however, left us in their 
daily records but little in the way of folk- 
lore. Clark's journal frequently contains such 
entries as : " Several little Indian aneckd tB told 
me to day ; " but he does not appear to have 
written them out — a neglect greatly to be 
deplored. 

At one time there was an alarm that some 
prowling Sioux were about to attack the 
great Mandan village. Appealed to for aid, 
Clark at once crossed the river with twenty- 
three men, including interpreters, and skil- 
fully and quickly flanked the town. No 
Sioux appeared, but the villagers were much 
impressed by this active military display, and 
henceforth more generally respected the 
Americans. At other times the natives were 
effectually aided in their buffalo-hunts, which 

1 President Jefferson had provided the explorers with printed 
vocabulary blanks, which they were to fill out. The recording 
of their words, a practise which they could not understand, 
greatly alarmed the natives, who feared that this meant some 
wicked design upon their country. Unfortunately, these vocab- 
ularies, although reaching Jefferson safely, were eventually lost. 

10 131 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

were conducted either on horseback across 
the frozen plains or upon great ice-floes in 
the river — the latter an exceptionally dan- 
gerous proceeding. 

The hospitality of the white men was some- 
times severely taxed by the Indian visitors 
who thronged the neighborhood of the fort. 
The unsophisticated savages never tired of 
watching the white men at their daily tasks 
of wood-chopping, cooking, washing, repair- 
ing, and military drill. At the blacksmith 
shop, the bellows and the working of malle- 
able iron were sources of much wonder. 
Lewis's air-gun, which could discharge forty 
shots from one load, awoke the chief est aston- 
ishment, the bewildered spectators much 
dreading the magician who could bring such 
things to pass. A Grosventre chief told one 
of the North West agents, however, that his 
warriors could soon do for these palefaces, 
out on the upper plains — for " there are only 
two sensible men among them, the worker of 
iron and the mender of guns." 

The strictest discipline was maintained 
at Fort Mandan. The natives frequently 
sought to test these regulations. Sometimes 

132 



Pestered by Indians 

Indian women who were in the fort over- 
night would unbar the gates to admit their 
friends, and twice some of the bucks scaled 
the palisade ; but such practises were sternly 
prohibited and eventually stopped. The per- 
tinacity of the natives was sometimes irksome 
to the last degree. "They usually," wrote 
Lewis in his journal, " pester us with their 
good company the ballance of the day after 
once being introduced to our apartment." 

Having necessarily provided themselves 
with a large store of homely remedies and 
surgical appliances, and acquired the rudi- 
ments of medical and surgical practise, the 
two captains were called upon not only to 
treat their own people but to play the part 
of healers to the Indians, who, beset by va- 
rious hurts and ailments, swarmed upon them 
not only at Fort Mandan, but throughout 
their entire route. The practise of this art 
proved to be of the utmost importance in the 
work of ingratiating themselves with the men 
of the wilderness. 

Amid their constant labors and watchful- 
ness, holidays were carefully observed by the 
often homesick explorers. Upon Christmas, 

133 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Clark records, they were " awakened before 
Day by a discharge of 3 platoons from the 
Party and the French, the men merrily Dis- 
posed, I give them all a little Taffia [brandy] 
and permitted 3 Cannon fired, at raising Our 
Flag, Some Men Went out to hunt & the 
others to Danceing and Continued untill 9 
oClock P.M. when the frolick ended <fcc." 
For the time, they were free from their savage 
guests, who had been told that this being a 
" great medicine day " with the whites, their 
company was not wanted. New Year's was 
another gala-day. Two cannons were dis- 
charged, and some of the men went with the 
versatile York to the chief village and danced 
and otherwise performed, greatly to the de- 
light of their brown neighbors. 

The last six weeks of their stay were 
crowded with details. Towards the end of 
February, with the thermometer still in the 
neighborhood of 20° below zero, timber was 
cut for the making of pirogues, and prep- 
arations were commenced for the resump- 
tion of the long journey. The approach of 
spring brought the usual news of intertribal 
jealousies and consequent raids, especially on 

134 



Despatches and Specimens 

the part of the restless Grosventres. A band 
of Sioux waylaid the hunters for the expedi- 
tion and carried off two of their horses and 
considerable meat. Clark went upon a hunt- 
ing trip as far as the Cannon Ball River. 
Sacajawea was delivered of a son (Febru- 
ary 11th). 

A few days after arriving at Fort Mandan, 
early in November, several of the French en- 
gages, hired only for the trip thither, had re- 
turned down the river. Upon the seventh of 
April the barge and a canoe were despatched 
to St. Louis, with several soldiers (accompany- 
ing whom were the disgraced Reed and New- 
man), and Frenchmen charged with despatches 
and specimens to the President, as well as 
private letters. Among the articles thus for- 
warded were nine cages of living animals and 
birds, and several boxes containing rocks, soils, 
dried plants, stuffed zoological specimens, and 
articles of Indian dress, utensils, weapons, and 
ornaments. Many of these were long exhib- 
ited by Jefferson at his Monticello home, and 
others went to Peale's Museum in Philadel- 
phia ; some are still in existence. 

At the same moment (four in the after- 

135 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

noon) that the barge and canoe left for the 
lower country, Clark embarked with his 
party for the forward journey — Lewis, who 
craved the exercise, marching on shore to 
the first night's camp, four miles up-stream. 
The flotilla consisted of two large pirogues 
and six small canoes. Writes Clark : " This 
little fleet altho' not quite so respectable as 
those of Columbus or Capt. Cook, was still 
viewed by us with as much pleasure as those 
deservedly famed adventurers ever beheld 
theirs; and I dare say with quite as much 
anxiety for their safety and preservation. 
... I could not but esteem this moment of 
my departure as among the most happy of 
my life." 



136 



CHAPTEK IX 

FKOM THE MANDANS TO THE SEA 

A week out from Fort Mandan (April 
14th), the expedition reached the mouth of 
what the leaders named Charbonneau Creek. 
This was the highest point on the Missouri 
to which whites had thus far ascended, ex- 
cept that two Frenchmen, having lost their 
way, had proceeded a few miles farther up. 
All beyond was unknown to civilized men. 

On the twenty-sixth the mouth of the Yel- 
lowstone was reached. Here, Lewis in his 
journal recommends that a trading post be es- 
tablished — eight hundred yards above the 
junction, on a high, well-timbered plain, over- 
looking a lake-like widening of the Missouri. 

In these upper regions, where signs of coal 
were frequently seen and in places alkali 
whitened the ground like snow, " game is very 
abundant and gentle " ; two hunters could, 

137 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Lewis thinks, " conveniently supply a regi- 
ment with provisions." Big-horns, monster 
elk, black and grizzly bears, antelopes, and 
great herds of buffaloes are daily met; they 
feast off beavers, Lewis thinking " the tale a 
most delicious morsel," and wondering great- 
ly at the industry of these animals, which in 
some spots fell for their numerous dams many 
acres of timber as thick as a man's body ; 
wolves increase, and the nimble coyotes be- 
gin to interest them. 

The huge and savage grizzly was, in some 
respects, the most formidable obstacle en- 
countered by the intrepid explorers; compared 
with these bulky, ferocious beasts, Indians 
occasioned small alarm. By the time the 
party were a month out from the Mandans, 
Lewis could write : " I find that the curiossity 
of our party is pretty well satisf yed with ri- 
spect to this anamal . . . [he] has stag- 
gered the resolution [of] several of them." A 
few days later came a disagreeable experi- 
ence with a grizzly, in which he and seven of 
his men, as yet unable to locate the vulner- 
able parts, found it impossible to kill the 
creature save after a persistent fusillade from 

138 



Fighting Grizzlies 

their short-range rifles. " These bear," he says, 
" being so hard to die reather intimeadates 
us all ; I must confess that I do not like the 
gentlemen and had reather fight two Indians 
than one bear." 

Both Lewis and Clark were fond of hunt- 
ing, and bne or the other of them, more 
often Lewis, generally accompanied the 
hunters on shore ; although, as in the lower 
reaches, the captain often wandered far from 
his party, collecting specimens or ascending 
elevations to examine the country. Lewis, 
when walking, was always armed both with 
his rifle and a halberd (or spontoon), which 
latter he found convenient as a weapon and 
as a staff. One day he fell upon the edge of 
a bluff whose surface had been rendered slip- 
pery through rain; but a dexterous use of 
the halberd saved him from a fall of ninety 
feet, that no doubt would have been fatal. 

At another time he had just shot a fat buf- 
falo and, his rifle as yet unloaded, was watch- 
ing the animal die, when he was startled to 
find that a large grizzly had stealthily crept 
within twenty paces of him. There were no 
bushes within several miles, the nearest tree 

139 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

was three hundred yards away, and the river- 
bank, eighty yards distant, sloped down to a 
height of not over three feet. At first he 
slowly retreated toward the tree, but the 
bear rushed at him with open mouth, at full 
speed. By turning on his track, the captain 
was able to reach the water, into which he 
ran until waist deep. Flourishing the hal- 
berd at the animal, the latter paused upon 
the shore, twenty paces distant, and sudden- 
ly showing alarm at this threatened attack, 
wheeled and ran away as fast as he could to 
the nearest woods. 

But the enemy was not always thus easily 
frightened. On one occasion, an immense 
fellow so closely pursued two hunters who 
had poured eight bullets into his body that 
in their hasty retreat they cast aside their 
guns and pouches, and threw themselves into 
the river, over a perpendicular bank twenty 
feet high. The infuriated bear plunged in 
after them, only a few feet behind the second 
man, when fortunately another hunter on the 
shore shot the fellow through the head and 
killed him. Such sport lent zest to the jour- 
ney, but soon gave rise to an order that the 

140 



Camp Perils 

men must, when in open country, act only on 
the defensive with this ferocious creature. 

Once, at the dead of night, a large buffalo 
bull invaded their camp. Apparently at- 
tracted by the light, he swam the river, and 
climbing over their best pirogue — but fortu- 
nately not seriously injuring it — he charged 
the fires at full speed, passing within a few 
inches of the heads of the sleeping men, and 
made for Lewis and Clark's tent. Lewis's 
dog, his constant companion throughout the 
expedition, caused the burly beast to change 
his course, and he was off in a flash ; all this, 
before the sentinel could arouse the camp, 
which was now in an uproar, the men rush- 
ing out with guns in hand, inquiring for the 
cause of the disturbance. 

Owing to the mismanagement of the steers- 
man, a squall of wind caused the pirogue to 
upset. Papers, instruments, books, medi- 
cines, ammunition, and articles of merchan- 
dise were wet and nearly lost — a narrow 
escape from a disaster which might well have 
meant the end of the expedition. A camp- 
fire once crept into a tree overhanging the 
captains' lodge. The guard awakened them, 

141 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

and they removed the tent just in time to 
escape being crushed by the falling trunk. It 
would be easy to fill pages with experiences 
of this sort — with bears, buffaloes, wolves, 
tiger cats, and rattlesnakes, and with the 
forces of inanimate nature — which daily and 
nightly beset these hardy adventurers who, 
first of all white men, were breaking a trans- 
continental path westward to the Pacific. 

" The succession of curious adventures," 
wrote Lewis, "wore the impression on my 
mind of inchantment, at sometimes for 
a moment I thought it might be a dream." 
But there were other trials which convinced 
him of the reality of his existence : " Our trio 
of pests still invade and obstruct us on all 
occasions, these are the Musquetoes eye knats 
and "prickly pears, equal to any three curses 
that ever poor Egypt laiboured under, ex- 
cept the Mahometant yoke." The labor of 
navigation was of itself no holiday task. Oars 
could seldom be used against the heavy cur- 
rent, beset as it was with snags and sand-bars. 
Towing-ropes and setting-poles were now more 
frequently in use, the men finding the work 
excessively fatiguing. Clark, as master of 

142 



A Fateful Decision 

navigation, toiled lustily each day; and Lewis, 
when aboard the craft, encouraged his people 
by assisting ; he assures us in his journal that 
he has "learned to push a tolerable good 
pole." 

The third of June they came to where the 
river " split in two," and were greatly puzzled 
to know which way to go. To take the wrong 
branch, that did not lead toward the Colum- 
bia, would lose them the whole of the season, 
and probably so dishearten the party that 
the expedition might have to be abandoned. 
The utmost circumspection was necessary in 
order to arrive at the right decision. Both 
streams were carefully investigated by advance 
parties, being measured as to width, depth, 
and character and velocity of current. The 
men thought the north or right-hand fork the 
larger of the two, and therefore the main 
Missouri ; but Lewis and Clark were satisfied 
that the other was the true channel, and by 
common consent this was chosen. On this, as 
on many other occasions, the joint judgment 
of the captains proved to be superior to that 
of their assistants. The right fork Lewis 
named Maria's River, after his young cousin, 

143 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Maria Wood. " It is true," he writes, " that 
the hue of the waters of this turbulent and 
troubled stream but illy comport with the 
pure celestial virtues of that lovely fair one ; 
but on the other hand it is a noble river." 

It now being necessary to relieve them- 
selves of a part of their burden, a consider- 
able quantity of provisions, salt, tools, and 
ammunition were secretly buried or "cached" 
at the forks; and their large pirogue was 
hidden upon an island, under a heap of brush. 
After several days in camp, during which 
they dried, or "jerked," a quantity of bear 
and elk meat, the expedition again set forth, 
and soon all were convinced that the proper 
path had been selected. On the thirteenth, 
Lewis, tramping on ahead, with a pack upon 
his back, reached the Great Falls of the Mis- 
souri. Here he selected a portage trail for 
Clark, who arrived three days later with the 
boats. Above the falls are many cascades, 
involving a toilsome land journey of eighteen 
miles; but this was successfully accomplished, 
although it was the fifteenth of July before 
the explorers could again start upon their river 
journey, this time in new " dugout " canoes. 

144 



The Three Forks 

Upon the twenty-fifth, Clark, now in ad- 
vance with the flotilla, arrived at the point 
where the Missouri is again divided, this time 
into three forks of nearly equal size. Puzzled 
to know which was the better path, he finally 
selected the southwest stream, as apparently 
having more water and bearing more closely 
to the west. Leaving a note for Lewis at- 
tached to a conspicuously placed pole at the 
junction, Clark ascended the southwest river 
for twenty-five miles on foot ; but returned be- 
cause Charbonneau gave out and all of the 
party were suffering from excessive heat and 
lack of good drinking water, for the roily 
fluid of the Missouri is unfitted for this 
purpose. 

Upon Lewis's arrival, the two leaders 
carefully examined the several forks, and 
after a delay of five days — during which 
Clark was ill with a high fever " & akeing in 
all my bones " — fortunately decided to con- 
tinue the ascent of the southwest stream; 
this they called Jefferson River, " in honor of 
that illustrious personage Thomas Jefferson, 
the author of our Enterprise." The middle 
fork was styled Madison, after the secretary 

145 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

of state, and the southeast Gallatin, after the 
secretary of the treasury ; rivers had already 
been named by the expedition for the secre- 
taries of war and the navy. 

It was now of the utmost importance that 
either Snake or Shoshoni Indians should be 
found, as this tribe was then inhabiting the 
country about the sources of the Missouri. 
Their aid was essential in both pointing out 
the overmountain path to the navigable 
reaches of the Columbia and in furnishing 
horses for the transport of the men and their 
goods. It was at this point that Sacajawea 
was expected to prove most useful. Five 
years previous she had been taken prisoner 
from a Shoshoni encampment not far above 
the Three Forks of the Missouri, and carried 
by her captors, the Minitarees, to the lower 
Missouri, where, gaining her freedom, she be- 
came united to the interpreter Charbonneau, 
who frequently maltreated her. This man 
had been employed chiefly because of his 
squaw, who was to serve as interpreter to the 
Snakes and Shoshoni and in some measure as 
guide to their country. We have already 
seen that she had proved of value to the party 

146 



Sacajawea 

as an interpreter, long before reaching the 
upper waters, and on several occasions she had 
been of considerable service in the exigencies 
of camp life. The only member of the expedi- 
tion who had previously been upon the upper 
reaches of the Missouri, her memory was fre- 
quently appealed to with relation to geograph- 
ical questions — sometimes successfully, al- 
though often her intellect appeared too dull to 
have comprehended what she saw during her 
descent of the river. In alluding to their ar- 
rival at the scene of her captivity, Lewis writes : 
" I cannot discover that she shews any immo- 
tation of sorrow in recollecting this event, or 
of joy in being again restored to her native 
country ; if she has enough to eat and a few 
trinkets to wear I believe she would be per- 
fectly content anywhere." 

Lofty mountains scantily clad with pitch- 
pine soon began to approach closely to the 
river, and shallows and rapids increased the 
difficulties of navigation, rendering line and 
pole now the only means of stemming the 
fierce, boiling current ; riffles succeeded each 
other every three or four hundred yards, and 

the men were much of the time wading along 
11 14 7 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

the bush-strewn shore, over slippery rocks, 
wet to the skin, and weak from the extreme 
labor of pushing and hauling under such un- 
toward circumstances. It became evident 
that it would not be long before the water- 
way must be abandoned and the mountain 
portage to the Columbia be undertaken. 
While Clark remained in charge of the flo- 
tilla, Lewis pushed ahead on foot with the 
hunters, hoping to find a band of Indians; 
yet in his eager quest ever filling the pages 
of his journal with careful notes upon the 
natural history of the region. 

The land party, each man carrying his pack 
on his back, also had their trials. On the up- 
lands, thorns of prickly pear filled their mocca- 
sins and rendered walking a painful exercise, 
while on the river-bottoms they were harassed 
by the dense brush of the pulpy-leaved thorn. 
The hunters still continued to kill elk, bear, 
antelopes, beaver, and now and then a pan- 
ther, and occasionally to catch fish, but as a 
whole the meat supply was now running 
low. 

One afternoon, Lewis, unaccompanied, and 
frequently climbing the hills for views, worked 

148 

\ 



Forks of the Jefferson 

ahead of his party, and though he fired his 
gun and whooped, his companions, two miles 
below, could not hear him ; he was therefore 
obliged to spend the night alone. Killing a 
duck and cooking it by his large fire, he 
made a bed of willow-boughs and "amused 
myself in combatting the musquetoes for the 
ballance of the evening . . . should have 
had a comfortable nights lodge but for the 
musquetoes which infested me all night." 
The running of a grizzly near his fire once 
awakened him, causing him sharply to real- 
ize the danger of the wilderness. In the 
morning, his companions, concerned for his 
safety, joined him at breakfast. 

On the fourth of August, Lewis came to 
where the Jefferson forks into three streams. 
At first puzzled to know which to take, he de- 
cided to follow the middle one, and left the 
usual note to Clark on a pole at the junction. 
But when Clark arrived with his boats there 
was no pole, for being green the beavers had 
carried it off; whereupon he ascended the 
northwest fork, not being able to judge so well 
as Lewis, who had the advantage of hill-top 
views. But the difficulties of passage up this 

149 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

rapid stream were so great, that after a day's 
rough travel Clark returned to the forks, there 
finding Lewis awaiting him. Naming the 
northwest fork Wisdom, and the southeast 
Philanthropy — virtues which they ascribed to 
President Jefferson — they regarded the middle 
stream as the Jefferson, and continued its as- 
cent. Lewis kept on his way afoot, while Clark 
— suffering from "the rageing fury of a turner 
on my anckle musle" — followed with the craft. 

The river now passed for much of the way 
under perpendicular cliffs of rocks, infested 
by rattlesnakes. The mountains were not 
high, yet covered with snow, showing that 
the altitude was great, although the ascent 
had been scarcely perceptible. " I do not be- 
lieve," writes Lewis, " that the world can fur- 
nish an[other] example of a river runing to 
the extent which the Missouri and Jefferson 
rivers do through such mountainous country 
and at the same time so navigable as they 
are." 

On the eleventh, a day above the now cele- 
brated Beaver's Head cliff — with the river 
only twelve yards wide, and often barred by 
beaver dams — the Indian trail, which he had 

150 



Tasting Western Waters 

been following for many days, had thinned 
out and soon vanished. Lewis, walking ahead 
in search of the road, finally saw a Shoshoni 
warrior on horseback. The savage stood 
still, allowing the captain to approach within 
a hundred paces, and show his white skin — 
the faces and hands of the explorers were now 
as dark as those of Indians — and make signs 
of peace ; but the approach of Drouillard and 
Shields frightened the horseman, and he gal- 
loped off. 

The following day Lewis reached the 
source of the Missouri — a spring of ice-cold 
water " issuing from the base of a low moun- 
tain or hill." Two miles below this, " McNeal 
had exultingly stood with a foot on each side 
of this little rivulet and thanked his god that 
he had lived to bestride the mighty & hereto- 
fore deemed endless Missouri." A little later 
in the day, the captain crossed the divide and 
reached " a handsome bold runing Creek of 
cold Clear water here I first tasted the 
water of the great Columbia river " ; this was 
the Lemhi, an upper tributary of the Co- 
lumbia. 

Next day (August 13th) Lewis discovered 

151 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

a party of squaws whom lie made friendly 
with presents of beads, moccasin awls, pewter 
looking-glasses, and paint. They conducted 
him to their camp, two miles farther down 
the Lemhi, where the captain was introduced 
to sixty warriors, who, on hearing the tale of 
the exultant women, affectionately embraced 
Lewis and his party — " we wer all carressed 
and besmeared with their grease and paint 
till I was heartily tired of the national hug." 

After a day and night of feasting and danc- 
ing, the Indians agreed to furnish horses for 
the transport, from their large herds grazing 
near by ; and in the morning a considerable 
party of young men started out with their new 
friends to meet Clark at the head of navigation. 
Upon arriving at the place, on the fourteenth, 
Clark was not to be seen, whereupon the sav- 
ages at once suspected treachery. It required 
courage and audacious diplomacy on Lewis's 
part to prevent them from either running 
away or killing the whites. Three days 
later, Clark — delayed by the great toil of the 
ascent and the grumbling of his men — ap- 
peared and relieved the situation, which was 
becoming serious. With him were Charbon- 

152 • 



A Joyful Meeting 

neau and the squaw, a welcome event, for 
hitherto all communication between Lewis 
and his hosts had been by means of the uni- 
versal sign language of the Western tribes. 
Sacajawea could not only serve as inter- 
preter and communicate fully the objects 
which brought the adventurous white men, but 
to the great joy of all concerned she proved 
to be the long-lost sister of Cameawhait, the 
young head chief accompanying the horsemen. 
Lewis says : " The meeting of those people 
was really affecting, particularly between 
Sah-cah-gar-we-ah and an Indian woman, who 
had been taken prisoner at the same time 
with her and who had afterwards escaped 
from the Minnetares and rejoined her nation." 
Council followed council, in the deliberate 
manner of the Indians, so that it was several 
days before negotiations for horses could be 
concluded ; but in the end the Shoshoni gave 
abundant promise of assistance. While Clark 
pushed forward with eleven men to negotiate 
for animals at the principal village, to exam- 
ine the Lemhi, and ascertain its navigable 
possibilities, also to select timber for dugout 
canoes, Lewis arranged to cache the boats and 

- 153 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

the supplies needed for the return trip, and 
to bring on the party and their necessary bag- 
gage to the first Shoshoni camp. 

Bargaining with the Indians was attended by 
many uncertainties. It was soon evident that 
the subordinate chiefs were jealous of the at- 
tentions naturally paid to Cameawhait, and 
must be handled cautiously. The prices de- 
manded for the horses were exorbitant; in 
acquiring the twenty-nine animals finally se- 
cured, the party were almost bereft of their 
available stock of trading materials — knives, 
pistols, ammunition, clothing, etc. The sav- 
ages were fickle in their friendship ; sometimes, 
like a herd of sheep, being overcome by cause- 
less panic in their dealings with the mysterious 
strangers, and ready to desert them in the 
mountain passes. Great firmness and pa- 
tience, and reliance in the good faith of Cam- 
eawhait, to whose practical sense the cap- 
tains never appealed in vain, in the end won, 
and the reluctant Indians were kept to their 
promise to see the explorers over the divide. 

The Lemhi was soon abandoned by Clark 
as unsuitable for their purpose. They there- 
upon struck off to the northward, seeking 

154 



On the Lolo Trail 

" the great river which lay in the plains be- 
yond the mountains." The route taken was 
over the heavily timbered Bitterroot Moun- 
tains, which are slashed by deep gorges, 
down which rush torrential streams. This 
formidable region, " a perfect maze of bewil- 
dering ridges," was then and still is traversed 
by the Lolo or Northern Nez Perce trail, 
followed from time immemorial by Indians 
traveling between the upper waters of the 
Missouri and those of the Columbia. With 
many convolutions, rendered necessary by the 
uneven ground, this primitive highway fol- 
lows the watershed between the north fork 
and the middle or Lachsa fork of the Clear- 
water River, and eventually reaches the bot- 
toms of the Weippe Weeipe. 

Having left the region of game, the party 
were soon pressed for provisions, and were 
obliged to kill several of their horses for 
food. Blinding snowstorms in mid- Septem- 
ber greatly impeded progress; the sides of 
the mountains were steep and rocky, with in- 
secure foothold, especially during the frequent 
showers of sleet ; the nights were cold, raw, 
and often wet ; great areas strewn with fallen 

155 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

timber sometimes appeared almost impassable 
barriers ; and not infrequently the rude path 
was dangerously near the edges of steep 
precipices, from which men or horses were in 
constant fear of being dashed to pieces. Thus 
they toiled on, through the dense and gloomy 
forests of pine, sometimes scaling steep ridges, 
at others descending rocky slopes at the peril 
of their lives, or threading the thick timber 
of marshy bottoms. Some of their horses fell 
through exhaustion, to be at once used as 
food ; and the men themselves were so dis- 
heartened that Clark found it necessary to 
forge ahead with a party of hunters to find 
level country and game, by way of "reviving 
ther sperits." 

As they descended the mountains, the heat 
increased, but on the twenty-second they wel- 
comed the Weippe plain, where a band of 
Chopunnish Indians — chief traders upon the 
Clearwater branch of the Columbia system — 
received them with cautious ceremony. Lewis 
writes : " The pleasure I now felt in having 
tryumphed over the rockey Mountains and 
decending once more to a level and fertile 
country where there was every rational hope 

156 



Descending the Columbia 

of finding a comfortable subsistence for my- 
self and party can be more readily conceived 
than expressed." 

At the confluence of the Clearwater with 
its north fork the expedition went into camp, 
Lewis and most of the men being " weakened 
and much reduced in flesh as well as Strength." 
Clark, in addition to superintending the man- 
ufacture of iive canoes — largely by the Indian 
method of burning them out of solid trunks 
of trees — busily ministered to his companions, 
giving them " rushes Pills " and other strong 
remedies of the day. The weather was hot, 
in this closing week of September, and there 
was little nourishing food to be had — chiefly 
fish and roots, which latter were not to be in- 
dulged in freely ; nevertheless, the sick re- 
covered within a few days. 

Caching their saddles and much of their 
ammunition, they branded the horses — now 
thirty-eight in number — which they left in 
charge of a friendly chief, and upon the 
seventh of October launched their canoes for 
the descent to the Pacific. Rapids and islands 
were now numerous, and Indian summer fish- 
ing villages frequently appeared. The na- 

157 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

tives of the Columbia Valley proved to be of 
an inferior type, living chiefly on fish and 
roots — a mild and friendly people, some of 
whom, in the lower reaches, had met white 
traders upon the seacoast ; while in other 
camps the appearance of the explorers caused 
great consternation, the impression being that 
such strange visitors must have descended 
from the clouds. 

Fish not always agreeing with the adven- 
turers, dogs were almost daily purchased for 
food, Clark alone failing to relish this animal. 
Now and then they were able to purchase 
berries, but further than roots, fish, dog meat, 
and berries, it was impossible to vary their 
diet during the entire descent. The squalid 
and flea-ridden natives, all busily engaged in 
catching and drying fish for winter consump- 
tion, crowded to see the newcomers, eager to 
trade their fish, and even wood for cooking 
with, for bits of ribbon and other knick- 
knacks, and losing no opportunity adroitly to 
pilfer from the camp. 

On several occasions, despite the impossi- 
bility of communicating save by signs, a con- 
spiracy to kill them was detected, and only 

158 



Tidewater Reached 

checkmated by a show of force. This, how- 
ever, required skilful diplomacy, for the ex- 
plorers were under the necessity of returning 
by the same route, and it was important to 
keep on good terms with these slippery fel- 
lows. The Frenchmen therefore frequently 
played their violins and danced for the 
amusement of the wondering tribesmen, 
while the Kentuckians and Virginians sang, 
York performed his feats of strength and 
agility, and Lewis's air-gun gave them an ex- 
ample of the sort of magic in which the white 
men dealt. 

After safely braving the formidable Short 
Narrows of the Columbia — " swelling, boiling 
<fcwhorling in every direction" — they passed 
camps of savages who were more familiar 
with white men, many of them being clad in 
civilized clothing obtained from the coast 
traders ; if possible, these were even more 
tricky than their fellows above, and like them, 
dwelt in mortal fear of the Snakes and 
Shoshoni whom Lewis and Clark had met 
upon the sources of the river. 

On the first of November they reached 
Pacific tide-water, and soon were amid rich 

159 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

bottom-lands arid abundant elk, deer, and 
other game, among which were sea-otters ; 
and dense fogs frequently veiled the pleasing 
landscape. On the fourth, the natives at one 
village came in state to see them, tricked out 
in scarlet and blue blankets, sailor- jackets, 
overalls, shirts, and hats, in addition to their 
usual costume — assuming, disagreeable, thiev- 
ish fellows, freely laying their hands on 
small things about the camp, but treated by 
the diplomatic explorers " with every atten- 
tion & friendship." Three days later (the 7th) 
breakers could be heard during a storm, and 
Clark exultantly writes : " Great joy in camp 
we are in view of the Ocian." The river was 
here from five to seven miles wide, with bold, 
rocky shores, and " The Seas roled and tossed 
the Canoes in such a manner this evening 
that Several of our party were Sea sick." 

In the midst of a pelting rainstorm of ten 
days' duration, and such violent waves that 
all hands were hard worked in preventing 
their slender craft from being crushed upon 
the rocky and drift-strewn beach, they were 
able to make but slow progress toward the 
seashore. "It would be distressing to See 

160 



At the Ocean Side 

our Situation," Clark's journal records, "all 
wet and colde our bedding also wet, (and the 
robes of the party which compose half the 
bedding is rotten and we are not in a Situa- 
tion to supply their places) . . . Fortu- 
nately for us our men are healthy." 

Finally, after being weather-bound for six 
days in " a dismal niche scercely largely to 
contain us, our baggage half a mile from us," 
and canoes weighted down with stones to 
prevent their dashing against the rocks, the 
wind lulled, they proceeded (November 15th) 
around a blustery point, and there found a 
" butif ull Sand beech thro which runs a Small 
river from the hills." 

The continent had at last been spanned 
by American explorers. 



161 



CHAPTEE X 

AT FORT CLATSOP, AND THE RETURN 

The expedition had now reached what is 
at present called Baker's Bay, discovered by 
Vancouver in 1792. Personally he did not 
find the Columbia, which Gray had made 
known to him in that year ; later in the sea- 
son, however, one of Vancouver's officers, 
Broughton, ascended the stream to the Cas- 
cades, and took possession of the country for 
Great Britain. There was a strong, senti- 
mental desire on the part of Lewis and 
Clark's men to winter on the actual shore of 
" this emence Ocian," and both of the leaders 
headed side expeditions to find a favorable 
camp. After much searching, a site was se- 
lected upon Young's Bay, and thither the 
party removed during the first week of De- 
cember. A group of log houses protected by 
a palisade were erected, the establishment be- 

162 



At Fort Clatsop 

ing called Fort Clatsop — from the local tribe 
of Chinook Indians who inhabited the shore. 
The remains of the cantonment were dis- 
cernible sixty years after its constrnction. 

Throughout the long and tiresome winter 
each man in this hardy little band had his 
regular round of duties. In addition to nego- 
tiations for food and the general control of 
the camp, both Lewis and Clark were much 
occupied with writing in their voluminous 
separate journals of the language, manners, 
customs, religion, games, handiwork, and 
other characteristics of the savages, who 
daily thronged their little fortress, and to 
whose villages they frequently paid compli- 
mentary visits. The men were not only en- 
gaged in their daily tasks of hunting, cooking, 
preparing firewood, washing, mending, and 
preserving some semblance of order among 
the rapacious and often offensive native visit- 
ors, but they dressed skins for clothing, and 
in every possible way made preparations for 
the return trip. Henceforth the explorers 
were dressed almost wholly in leather. Dur- 
ing two months a detail was engaged in labo- 
riously boiling salt from sea-water, upon a 
12 163 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

point thirty-five miles distant, the product 
being twenty gallons. Fleas were so numer- 
ous at both camps as to deprive the men of 
half their sleep ; the first duty of each day 
was to rid blankets and clothing of these 
uncomfortable neighbors, with which all the 
Indians of the Columbia Bivei were swarm- 
ing. 

Game was scarce, and the natives had but 
small stores of fish that could be drawn upon. 
Dogs were not infrequently bought for food, 
Lewis thinking their flesh equal to beaver, 
but Clark abhorring it. Lewis, a born phi- 
losopher, in writing in his journal of this fact, 
says : " I have learned to think that if the 
chord be sufficiently strong, which binds the 
soul and boddy together, it does not so much 
matter about the materials which compose it." 
Not seldom the explorers were at short com- 
mons for provender, although most of the 
party had become expert riflemen, and Drouil- 
lard in particular was accounted one of the 
best hunters of his day. Lewis writes (Janu- 
ary 29th) : " A keen appetite supplys in a 
great degree the want of more luxurious 
sauses or dishes, and still renders my ordinary 

164 



A Trading Center 

meals not uninteresting to me, for I find my- 
self sometimes enquiring of the cook whether 
dinner or breakfast is ready." On one occa- 
sion, he humorously records " an excellent sup- 
per it consisted of a marrowbone a piece and 
a brisket of boiled Elk that had the appear- 
ance of a little fat on it — this for Fort Clat- 
sop is living in high stile." Among their 
grievances soon came to be the scarcity of 
tobacco ; indeed, by the first of March it had 
been wholly consumed — yet of the thirty- 
seven composing the party, thirty smoked, 
and were thereafter obliged to use the bark 
of the crab-tree as a substitute. 

The bay was from April to October an 
important center of the fur-trade, the many 
tribes of the Salish, Chinook, and Yakon 
families resorting here not only for meeting 
the English and American coast traders, 
who came in vessels, but for fishing and hunt- 
ing. Lewis estimated that thirty thousand 
pounds of pounded salmon were annually 
brought by the natives to this place, either 
for disposal to the whites or to representatives 
of other tribes. Although our explorers met 
none of these traders, the influence of the 

165 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

latter was evident on every hand — in the 
dress, ornaments, and weapons of the 
Chinooks, and in the " maney blackguard 
phrases " which they had acquired from the 
irreverent sea-dogs; but, curiously enough, 
no liquor was in use among them. 

The avaricious Chinooks were exceedingly 
fond of barter, and although friendly, charged 
liberally for services rendered or food sup- 
plied. Their principal circulating medium 
was blue and white beads, for which " they 
will dispose [of] any article they possess." 
Lewis says : " There is a trade continually 
carryed on by the natives of the river each 
trading some article or other with their 
neighbors above and below them; and thus 
articles which are vended by the whites at 
the entrance of the river, find their way 
to the most distant nations enhabiting its 
waters." 

Christmas was ushered in with " the dis- 
charge of the fire arm[s] of all our party. 
. . . Shouts and a song which the whole 
party joined in under our windows " ; although 
the customary yule-feast was impracticable, for 
there was nothing " either to raise our Sperits 

166 



Sample Journal Entries 

or even gratify our appetites." But on the 
evening of December 30th the fortification 
was at last complete, and New Year's day 
(1806) was fittingly noticed, notwithstanding 
the condition of the larder was but slightly 
bettered. The differences in temperament 
and education between Lewis, who had a 
poetic and sentimental turn of mind and 
elaborated his thoughts upon paper, and 
Clark, who expressed himself abruptly and 
with slight show of sentiment, are well illus- 
trated by their respective journal entries upon 
this interesting occasion : 

Lewis : This morning I was awoke at 
an early hour by the discharge of a volley of 
small arms, which were fired by our party in 
front of our quarters to usher in the new 
year; this was the only mark of rispect 
which we had it in our power to pay this 
celebrated day. our repast of this day tho' 
better than that of Christmass, consisted 
principally in the anticipation of the 1st 
day of January, 1807, when in the bosom 
of our friends we hope to participate in 
the mirth and hilarity of the day, and 
when with the zest given by the recollection 
of the present, we shall completely, both 
mentally and corporally, enjoy the repast 

167 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

which the hand of civilization has prepared 
for us. at present we were content with 
eating our boiled Elk and wappetoe [roots], 
and solacing our thirst with onr only bever- 
age pure water. 

Clark: This morning at Day we wer 
Saluted from the party without, wishing us 
a " hapy new Year " a Shout and discharge 
of their arms. 

By the first of March the explorers began to 
be anxious to return. Upon the lofty moun- 
tain barrier lying between them and the Mis- 
souri snow lingers into early summer, and they 
were quite aware that the passage could not be 
made until June. But the difficulty of obtain- 
ing proper food was a serious one upon the 
coast. The Chinooks — " a rascally, thieving 
set " — themselves none too well fed, charged 
extravagantly for their small supplies of dogs, 
roots, and dried fish ; and the common store 
of small merchandise available for trading 
was now reduced to two handkerchiefs full, 
almost the sole dependence of the explorers 
for the purchase of horses and subsistence 
on the long overmountain trip — there being, 
in addition, some blankets, a few old clothes, 
and a uniform artillery coat and hat. The 

168 



Returning Homeward 

hope of meeting coast traders from whom 
they might, through their general letter of 
credit from President Jefferson, 1 obtain mer- 
chandise for Indian trade was by this time 
shattered ; and many of the men were now 
unwell from lack of suitable nourishment. 
An early departure from the coast was there- 
fore decided upon, with the intention of 
tarrying on the upper waters of the river, 
where their horses had been left in charge 
of the Indians. 

After giving to the natives lists of the 
names of the party, to which were appended 
statements of their feat in crossing the conti- 
nent and verbal instructions to deliver these 
papers to the first traders arriving at the river, 
the expedition left upon the twenty-third of 
March. Heavy winds, excessive rains, and 
high tides combined to render difficult the 
early stages of their canoe journey. Higher 

1 The original of this letter, together with many other MSS. 
connected with the expedition, is now the property of Mrs. 
Julia Clark Voorhis, of New York city, who obtained them 
by gift and inheritance through her father, George Rogers Han- 
cock Clark, a son of the explorer. The autograph copy of the 
letter of credit, retained by Jefferson, is among the Jefferson 
Papers in the State Department at Washington. 

169 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

up, the now swollen rapids necessitated fre- 
quent portaging, whereas in the descent these 
had freely been shot. Horses were required 
for this work, the purchase of which from the 
Indians — present in large numbers fishing for 
salmon, and sometimes having considerable 
herds — soon exhausted the remaining stock 
of trading material. 

Food had also to be bought, with the rare 
exceptions when native chiefs freely enter- 
tained their visitors ; but soon it became im- 
possible to offer any equivalent for horses, 
dogs, and sometimes fuel — for long stretches 
of the river-banks were treeless — save the 
practise of medicine. The services of the two 
captains as physicians and surgeons were at 
once in much demand. Hordes of weak-eyed, 
rheumatic, and bronchitic patients from a 
wide belt of country almost daily sought the 
great white medicine men; and both were 
often busied from morning till night in ear- 
nestly seeking to alleviate, with the simple 
remedies at command, the miseries of their 
squalid patients. 

In this they were sufficiently successful for 
the spread of their reputation, for the Indians 

170 



Among the Nez Perces 

were victims chiefly of the ills and accidents 
incident to an outdoor life ; and for just such 
practise the two leaders had fitted themselves 
by study and long experience. Lewis tells us 
that their eye-water was in especial demand, 
a small vial being the price for " a very eli- 
gant grey mare." He writes : " In our present 
situation I think it pardonable to continue 
this deseption for they will not give us any 
provision without compensation in merchan- 
dize and our stock is now reduced to a 
mere handfull. we take care to give them 
no article which can possibly injure them. 
. . . I sincerely wish it was in our power 
to give relief of these poor aff[l]icted 
wretches." 

At the mouth of Walla Walla River the 
explorers disposed of their now useless canoes 
to the Indians for beads and horses — the 
former to trade with — and traveled overland 
through East Washington by a well-worn 
trail, until reaching the Clearwater, whose 
bank they thenceforth ascended. Here they 
were greeted by their friends of the preced- 
ing autumn, the Nez Perces, and on the eighth 
of May reached the village of chief Twisted 

171 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Hair, who had essayed to winter their horses 
and care for their saddles. Many of the ani- 
mals had strayed afar, while others bore 
evidence of hard treatment by the rough-rid- 
ing Indian hunters who had freely used them 
in the chase ; but eventually all were rounded 
up and brought into fair condition by the 
generous pasturage of the neighborhood. 

The snow-clad peaks of the Rockies were 
now in view from the high plains, but crossing 
would be impossible for several weeks to come. 
On the fourteenth a permanent camp was 
formed on the Clearwater, not far from the 
eastern boundary of the present Nez Perce 
Indian Reservation, in Idaho. The local 
chief, Broken Arm, gave them firewood, 
several fat young horses for food, and lodges 
for the use of the captains. "It is," says 
Lewis, " the only act which deserves the ap- 
pellation of hospitallity which we have wit- 
nessed in this quarter." 

On their part, the captains, making a brave 
show of welcome, despite sentiments of dis- 
gust at the unclean savages, would frequently 
entertain their visitors with exhibitions of 
magnetism ; and their spy-glass, compass, 

172 



No Time for Delay 

watch, and air-gun were novel and incompre- 
hensible wonders. The Indians were partic- 
ularly impressed by the white men's ability 
to kill grizzlies, just then the chief meat of 
the latter ; the natives themselves could con- 
quer these beasts only upon the open plains, 
by running them down on horseback and 
shooting arrows into them. 

On the tenth of June a second move was 
made toward the mountains, ten miles farther 
up, on the edge of Weippe prairie. The In- 
dians still warned them not to attempt the 
crossing ; but game was scarce, the trading 
material had again been reduced to a hand- 
ful, despite the ingenuity of the men in fash- 
ioning trinkets out of bits of wire and rib- 
bon, and the captains were concerned lest 
they might not reach home by winter. " We 
have not any time to delay," writes Lewis, 
"if the calculation is to reach the United 
States this season ; this I am determined to 
accomplish if within the compass of human 
power." 

At last, on the fifteenth, the final start was 
made. It was a slow, laborious march. The 
timber was dense, and much of it fallen ; the 

173 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

bared roads upon the steep hillsides were so 
slippery from recent rains that the horses 
frequently fell ; and in ravines the snow lay 
eight and ten feet deep. " Winter with all 
its rigors," records Lewis ; " the air was cold, 
my hands and feet were benumbed." After 
several days of rare hardship they were 
obliged to return discomfited to the Weippe 
flats — their first and only defeat. 

Starting out afresh with better guides, sol- 
emnly pledged to take them to the Falls of 
the Missouri, they found that meanwhile the 
snow had suddenly subsided four feet, and 
the path was now discovered more easily. By 
the first of July, after several narrow escapes 
from disaster, the expedition was at the mouth 
of Travelers' Rest Creek, the converging of 
the mountain trails. Here they arranged to 
divide their party, in an endeavor to ascer- 
tain whether a better road to the Missouri 
might not be found than that chosen in the 
ascent of the previous year ; for the principal 
object of the expedition was to discover the 
most practicable transcontinental route. 

Lewis, with a special detail, was — to use 
his own words — "to go with a small party 

174 



The Party Divided 

by the most direct rout to the falls of the 
Missouri, there to leave Thompson McNeal 
and (jbodrich to prepare carriages and geer 
for the purpose of transporting our canoes 
and baggage over the portage, and myself 
and six volunteers to ascend Maria's river 
with a view to explore the country and ascer- 
tain whether any branch of that river lie as 
far north as Lat d . 50. and again return and 
join the party who are to decend the Missouri, 
at the entrance of Maria's river." 

Clark agreed to take the others to the 
head of Jeiferson's River, where, in the 
ascent, they had cached sundry articles and 
left their canoes; Sergeant Ordway and 
nine men were to take the canoes down 
to the Falls of the Missouri, there to meet 
McNeal and Goodrich, who would be ready 
to assist them over the long portage and 
in opening the caches at its foot. Clark 
and the remaining ten, among whom were 
Charbonneau and York, proposed to pro- 
ceed thence to the Yellowstone River, 
build canoes, and descend it to the Missouri, 
where they were to await Lewis's arrival. It 
was planned to send Sergeant Pry or and two 

175 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

others of Clark's party overland from the 
Yellowstone to the Mandans ; thence to the 
British posts on the Assiniboin, with a letter 
to the trader Haney, whom they wished to 
induce several Sioux chiefs to join Lewis and 
Clark upon the Missouri, and accompany them 
to visit the new Great Father in Washington. 
On the third, the two friends took an affect- 
ing leave of each other. " I could not avoid 
feeling much concern on this occasion," Lewis 
writes in his diary, " although I hoped this 
seperation was only momentary." 

After a cold, wet trip, in which, however, 
there was a bountiful supply of game — one 
of the buffalo herds numbering ten thousand, 
which in this mating season kept up " one 
continual roar " of bellowing — Lewis arrived 
at the falls on the thirteenth, six days after 
crossing the continental divide. There he 
found that much of the material in the caches 
had been destroyed by moisture. Leaving the 
portage party, the captain descended to the 
mouth of Maria's Eiver, which he reached 
in two days. Ascending this stream, he had 
several thrilling experiences with grizzlies, 
was much tortured with mosquitoes, saw im- 

176 



Hostile Minitarees 

mense flocks and herds of game, and frequently 
lost horses at the hands of prowling Mini, 
tarees — u a vicious lawless and reather an 
abandoned set of wretches." 

On the twenty-sixth, while Lewis and his 
companions were exploring a branch of 
Maria's River — the main party were await- 
ing them at the forks — they fell in with a 
band of mounted Minitarees in charge of a 
herd of some thirty horses. The whites 
passed the night in the Indian camp, but 
toward morning were attacked by their hosts, 
who captured their guns and tried to run off 
their horses. In the scuffle, Reuben Fields 
stabbed one of the savages to the heart — the 
only Indian killed by the expedition — and 
there was an ineffectual exchange of shots. 
While some of Lewis's horses were stolen, 
the tribesmen chanced to leave better ones, 
with which the party made a hasty retreat 
to their waiting comrades, sixty-three miles 
away. Lewis ordered on this forced march 
that " the bridles of the horses should be tied 
together and we would stand and defend them, 
or sell our lives as dear as we could." For- 
tunately, however, the Indians were quite as 

m 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

alarmed as they, and gave no chase. This 
affair long rankled in the hearts of the re- 
vengeful Minitarees and their Blackf eet rela- 
tives, and was the cause of many later at- 
tacks by them upon white men. 

Now reunited, Lewis's party continued the 
descent of the Missouri in a pirogue and 
five small canoes, hurrying as fast as might 
be, from fear of attack by the incensed na- 
tives. The river was high, and thick with 
mud freshly washed down from the ravines 
by heavy rains, which prevailed for several 
days. The swift current often hurled their 
craft upon the numerous snags which choked 
the stream, and on several such occasions 
some of the party had narrow escapes from 
drowning. But "game is so abundant and 
gentle that we kill it when we please." 

August seventh they reached the mouth of 
the Yellowstone. Here was found a note 
informing them that Clark, tormented by 
mosquitoes and finding no buffaloes at this 
point, had departed thence a week before. 
On the eleventh, while Lewis was hunting 
elk, he was accidentally wounded in the left 
thigh by a bullet from Cruzatte's gun, and 

178 



Sacajawea's Services 

suffered intense pain. Fortunately, the fol- 
lowing day they overtook Clark, who dressed 
the wound and made his friend as comfort- 
able as possible, although for nearly a month 
to come Lewis was to be incapacitated for 
active duty, even for the writing of his 
journal. 

On his part, Clark had had a successful 
although hazardous expedition. On the eighth 
of July he arrived at the head of Jefferson 
River, where the cache was opened, new ca- 
noes were made and launched, and the party 
descended to the mouth of Gallatin's River. 
Here, Clark and his Yellowstone detachment 
parted from the others, who were instructed 
to join Lewis at the Forks of the Missouri. 
With the captain went Charbonneau and 
Sacajawea with their child, Sergeant Pryor, 
York, and seven others, and a herd of forty- 
nine horses and a colt. " The indian woman 
who has been of great service to me as a pilot 
through this country," continued to be an 
important member of the party. 

Beaver dams so impeded their travel on 
the overflowed river-bottoms that it was nec- 
essary to resort to the highlands. The hunt- 
13 179 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

ers were sometimes chased, even on horseback, 
by ferocious grizzlies. On the night of the 
twentieth, twenty-four of their horses, while 
grazing, were stolen by Indians, whose fires 
they could see upon the hilltops, signals of 
the white men's approach. Gibson was se- 
verely injured by being thrown from his 
mount, and for a long time had to be carried 
on a horse-litter. Such are specimens of the 
adventures which fill Clark's copious note- 
book — all told in the most matter-of-fact 
manner, but suggestive of a perilous under- 
taking whose conduct daily required courage, 
diplomacy, and executive ability in a high 
degree. 

July twenty-fourth, when some two or three 
days above the Big Horn River, two canoes 
were made and launched, being lashed to- 
gether side by side. Upon this craft most of 
the party embarked, two or three proceeding 
by land in care of the horses. With these 
they had much trouble on account of fre- 
quent buffalo herds, which the Indian ponies 
persisted in circling, as was the custom of the 
savage hunters who had trained them. Buf- 
faloes were so numerous that sometimes the 

180 



Reunion of the Leaders 

navigators were obliged to land in order to 
allow great herds to cross the stream — the 
burly beasts frequently drowning or miring 
amid the wild, rushing scramble of their fel- 
lows. Clark writes : " For me to mention or 
give an estimate of the differant Species of 
wild animals on this river particularly Buffa- 
low, Elk Antelopes & Wolves would be in- 
creditable. I shall therefore be silent on the 
subject further." Bighorn sheep, deer, and 
antelopes were frequently killed by the party 
for their skins, from which the men made 
clothing. 

As already stated, it had been the inten- 
tion of Clark to send three of his men, with 
a dozen horses, to meet Haney on the Assini- 
boin ; but for several reasons this proved im- 
practicable and the project was abandoned. 
The third of August he reached the Missouri, 
but mosquitoes and a local deficiency of game 
caused him to drop below and await Lewis 
on more favorable ground. We have seen that 
nine days after, "Cap* Lewis hove in Sight 
with the party which went by way of the 
Missouri as well as that which accompanied 
him from Travellers rest on Clarks river." 

181 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Two days later (the 14th) the reunited 
expedition reached the principal villages 
of the Mandans, where they were cordially 
welcomed as old friends. John Colter, 
one of their best hunters, was now released 
from duty, as with two friends whom he met 
there he wished to return upon a prolonged 
trapping expedition to the upper waters of 
the Missouri. Colter, a man with a remark- 
able history as an explorer, remained in the 
mountains until the spring of 1810, and had 
many exciting experiences with the Indians. 
Among other points to his credit, he is recog- 
nized as the first white discoverer of what is 
now Yellowstone National Park. Charbon- 
neau and Sacajawea were also discharged, and 
said good-by to their old-time comrades. They 
settled among the Mandans, to them being 
given the blacksmith tools of the expedition, 
with instructions to use these in the service of 
the natives. 

In the place of their discharged servants, 
Lewis and Clark took with them Big White 
Chief, one of the prominent Mandan leaders, 
together with his squaw and son, and Rene 
Jussaume, an interpreter, with his squaw and 

182 



News from Home 

two children. This party eventually visited 
Washington and other Eastern cities, carry- 
ing back to their wilderness lodges strange 
tales of the wonders of civilization. The 
Minitarees, Arikaras, and Sioux, suspicious of 
the whites, could not be prevailed on to send 
delegates to the Great Father. 

The thirtieth of August was memorable for 
an attempt on the part of the Teton Indians 
to prevent the descent. After a show of 
force, during which Lewis hobbled out on his 
crutches, the savages calmed down, and the 
affair ended in " a big smoke," with the cus- 
tomary ceremonials. 

At the mouth of the Vermilion (Septem- 
ber 3d) they met a trader named Aird, who 
gave them not only needed supplies of tobacco 
and flour, but news of the fatal Burr-Hamilton 
duel, and tarried long at their camp-fire to 
discuss other political and social gossip of the 
past two and a half years. Three days later, a 
little above the "Petite River de Secoux," was 
encountered one of the boats belonging to their 
old friend August Chouteau, a prominent St. 
Louis fur-trader, bound for River Jacque to 
trade with the Yanktons. From its master 

183 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

they purchased " a gallon of whiskey . . . 
and gave to each man of the party a dram 
which is the first spiritious licquor which has 
been tasted by any of them since the 4 of 
July 1805. several of the party exchanged 
leather for linen Shirts and beaver for corse 
hats." On parting company, Chouteau's man 
gaily saluted them with two shots from the 
swivel on his prow, the captains repaying the 
compliment in kind. 

By the ninth, at the River Platte, which 
was being entered by several French trading 
boats, " My worthy friend Cap. Lewis has en- 
tirely recovered his wounds are heeled up 
and he can walk and even run." The next day 
they heard of Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike's 
expedition to the Red and Arkansas Rivers. 
Not long after, Lewis's old army friend Cap- 
tain McClellan was met on a trading expedi- 
tion to Santa Fe\ Thus daily were they now 
greeted by traders or explorers going up the 
great waterway ; for in their long absence a 
flood of immigration had set in towards the 
rapidly unfolding West, and was pouring far 
into the new lands of the Louisiana Purchase. 
The bronzed and tattered adventurers, fresh 

184 



A Generous Welcome 

from their great exploit, were welcomed as 
men long thought by their fellow citizens to 
have been lost ; supplies poured in upon them, 
and from each fraternal meeting on the river 
or in camp upon the shore they were sent on 
their way with songs and applauding cheers. 

Making a daily progress on the rapid cur- 
rent of from forty to seventy -five miles, they 
quickly approached their long-sought desti- 
nation. At Chare tte (September 20th) Clark 
reports that " every person, both French and 
americans seem to express great pleasure 
at our return, and acknowledged themselves 
much astonished in seeing us return, they 
informed us that we were supposed to have 
been lost long since, and were entirely given 
out by every person <fcc." Yet, amidst this 
public thanksgiving, they were charged eight 
dollars in cash for two quarts of whisky, 
which the indignant diarist rightly dubs "an 
imposition on the part of the citizen." 

The following day they came in sight of 
St. Charles^ whose people had so generous- 
ly entertained them upon their departure. 
" This day being Sunday," notes Clark, " we 
observed a number of Gentlemen and ladies 

185 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

walking on the banks, we saluted the Vil- 
lage by three rounds from our blunderbuts 
and the Small arms of the party, and landed 
near the lower part of the town, we were 
met by great numbers of the inhabitants," 
and freely entertained in their homes. 

At twelve o'clock noon of the twenty-third 
they hove to at the St. Louis beach, and 
greeted the waiting crowd with a salute. " We 
were met by all the village and received a 
harty welcom from its inhabitants &c," was 
Clark's terse record of what must have been 
a hilarious popular demonstration. Letters 
briefly describing the expedition were at once 
posted to President Jefferson at Washington, 
and to General William Henry Harrison, 
Governor of the Northwest Territory, at Vin- 
cennes. On the twenty-fifth there was given 
to them " in the evening a dinner & Ball " ; 
and on the twenty-fifth we have the last 
word in the journals — "a fine morning we 
commenced wrighting &c." Thus, they had 
no sooner returned and greeted their friends 
than the two great explorers began with com- 
mendable promptness to revise their field 
notes for publication. 

186 



Story of the Journals 

Unfortunately, both men soon receiving 
public appointments, they were obliged to 
leave their literary task unfinished. Biddle's 
well-known narrative, which is but a para- 
phrase of their journals, did not appear until 
1814; and not until the winter of 1903-04, 
a century after the event, were the complete 
records of what was in many ways the most 
important and interesting of Rocky Mountain 
explorations laid before the reading public. 1 

1 Lewis had intended to be the editor of the journals ; but on 
his way to Philadelphia, in 1810, to undertake this work, he died 
in a log tavern in Tennessee — whether by murder or suicide is 
still a moot question. Nicholas Biddle, of Philadelphia, a lawyer 
friend of Jefferson, undertook the task, and published his Nar- 
rative in two volumes, in 1814. It was for its day an excellent 
piece of editorial work, but omits much of interest and scientific 
value. In 1818 Jefferson rescued the original note-books — save 
five that Biddle had returned to Clark — and deposited them with 
the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. The five 
Clark books are now the property of Mrs. Julia Clark Voorhis, 
of New York city, a granddaughter of the explorer. 



187 



CHAPTER XI 

THOMPSON, FRASER, THE ASTORIANS, AND PIKE 

In the treaty of peace with Great Britain 
(1782-83) the northern boundary of the 
United States was defined as running from 
the northwest point of the Lake of the 
Woods "on a due- west course to the river 
Mississippi " ; thence down the main channel 
of that river until it was crossed by the line 
of Louisiana (31° North latitude). There 
was, however, some reason to suspect that the 
source of the Mississippi might be within 
British possessions, which led to the clause 
specifying that, however this might be, citizens 
of both nations should enjoy the free naviga- 
tion of the river. The Jay treaty (1794) pro- 
vided for an "amicable negotiation" to settle 
whatever questions might arise should the 
Mississippi be found to extend northward of 
the due-west line from the Lake of the Woods. 

188 



David Thompson 

It is not necessary, in the present connec- 
tion, to follow the protracted discussion of 
this and other questions which arose in con- 
nection with the northwest boundary, further 
than to state that not until 1818 was the 
source of the Mississippi found to lie consider- 
ably south of the Lake of the Woods ; and 
not until the Webster-Ashburton treaty 
(1846) and the confirmatory decision of the 
German Emperor in 1872, that the United 
States was at last given the forty -ninth paral- 
lel of latitude as its northern limit, west of the 
lake. The purchase of Louisiana (1803) had 
placed our northern boundary in an entirely 
new light, by giving us vast but undefined 
rights westward to the crest of the Rocky 
Mountains, and northward to include the 
territory visited by the French fur-traders. 

Lack of knowledge regarding the source of 
the Mississippi led to the introduction upon 
our stage of David Thompson, one of the 
most picturesque of Rocky Mountain explor- 
ers. An astronomer and surveyor of much 
merit, Thompson had been in the employ of 
the Hudson's Bay Company ; but as that 
conservative corporation discouraged his 

189 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

marked tendency to explore, lie went to 
Grand Portage, the Lake Superior head- 
quarters of its great rival, the North West 
Company, and there offered his services. 
Being promptly employed, he was sent out in 
August, 1796, to explore the source of the 
Mississippi — for the boundary question was 
a matter of much importance to the Canadian 
traders, who during the unsettled condition 
of affairs were freely trading with and influ- 
encing the Indians throughout the vast region 
west and southwest of Lake Superior. He 
was also to visit the Mandan villages on the 
Missouri, to make inquiries relative to fossils 
and prehistoric remains, and to establish the 
latitude and longitude of each of the com- 
pany's posts which he should visit. 

His long winter journey to the Mandans, 
by way of Kainy Lake, Lakes Manitoba and 
Winnipeg, and the Saskatchewan and Assini- 
boin Kivers, was similar in character to that 
undertaken by Verendrye in 1738. In his 
company was Rene Jussaume, the interpreter 
who ten years later accompanied Lewis and 
Clark down the Missouri. Leaving the Man- 
dans, Thompson crossed in the spring (1797) 

190 



Thompson's Crossing 

to the Eed Kiver of the North with three 
French Canadians and an Indian guide. Later 
in the season he reached Lake Superior by 
descending St. Louis River, and in due course 
arrived by canoe at Grand Portage, after one 
of the most venturesome journeys on record, 
which brought him wide-spread fame. 

In 1805, after the fusion of the North 
West and X Y corporations into the United 
Company, Thompson was sent up the Sas- 
katchewan, with orders to cross the Rockies 
over to the Columbia and examine the moun- 
tains on the Pacific coast. At the same time, 
Simon Fraser, of whom we shall presently 
hear, was despatched up Peace River, and 
directed to explore the western region from 
the northern approach. Thompson crossed 
the divide in 1806, discovered the upper 
waters of the Columbia, and the following 
year established there the trading-post of 
Kootenay House, where he wintered (1807- 
08). 

Returning to the Saskatchewan the next 
summer, he recrossed the mountains with 
horses, and was back at Kootenay House in 
November. Continuing his explorations 

191 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

upon the Columbia, and once more passing a 
winter there, the persistent traveler was at 
Lake Athabasca in the autumn of 1810. 
Again descending the Columbia the year fol- 
lowing, this time as far as Lewis River, he 
attached a note to a pole, claiming the coun- 
try for Great Britain ; for news had reached 
the "Nor'- Westers" that the Americans were 
about to open a trading-post at the mouth of 
the river. Upon reaching the sea, he was 
keenly disappointed to find that the Ameri- 
cans had preceded him, by building Astoria. 
Thompson, however, at once erected a rival 
fort at Spokane. He soon after drifted to 
eastern Canada, where he was later employed 
on important surveys, dying (1857) at the 
age of eighty-seven, a very poor man, but one 
deserving much at the hands of his country- 
men. 

Fraser, one of the most daring of the fur- 
traders of his day, was the son of American 
loyalists, and in youth became a clerk in the 
North West Company. In 1797 we find him 
the company's agent at Grand Portage, and 
later he was at Athabasca. Accompanied by 
John Stuart, a North West clerk, whose friends 

192 



Simon Fraser 

claimed that he was the leading spirit in the 
expedition, Fraser crossed the mountains in the 
spring of 1806. Stopping to barter with the 
Indians — for the explorers of that time were 
traders as well — it was not until May 22, 1807, 
that he made his final start for the Pacific. 
With Stuart, a trader named Quesnel, nine- 
teen voyageurs, and two Indians, all in four 
canoes, he descended the Tacouche Tesse 
(afterward known as Fraser River). It was 
an enterprise abounding in peril, for the 
stream is studded with whirling rapids, down 
which the intrepid explorers plunged with an 
apparent recklessness which almost hourly 
threatened the demolition of their canoes, if 
not loss of life. But the river often surges be- 
tween frowning cliffs ; portages are long and 
difficult, and frequently quite impracticable 
without immense outlay of labor ; so that a 
wild dash through a dizzy gorge seemed some- 
times the only solution of the problem. In- 
dian turbulence prevented Fraser from actu- 
ally reaching the sea, but his trip stands on 
record as one of the most notable of Rocky 
Mountain exploits. Returning to the Red 
River of the North (1808), he served his com- 

193 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

pany for several years in the Lake Superior 
region, and subsequently died on the Ottawa. 

Among the men first to grasp the advan- 
tage of the transcontinental route up the Mis- 
souri and down the Columbia was John 
Jacob Astor, of New York. Astor had at 
first been an independent fur-trader at Mon- 
treal, shipping to London. When Jay's 
treaty removed the restriction on exporting 
furs from British possessions, Astor consigned 
his peltries to New York and opened a trade 
with China, where prices for furs were high. 
Soon himself removing to New York, he 
sought under the encouragement of the 
Federal Government to obtain a monopoly of 
the fur-trade in the United States. Founding 
the American Fur Company in 1809, two 
years later he bought out several large 
Mackinac traders and organized the South 
West Company. 

A part of his great scheme was to estab- 
lish a line of posts along Lewis and Clark's 
entire route, and control the trade of the Co- 
lumbia basin. The North West Company was 
now operating to the north of this point, and 
we have seen that for several years trading 

194 



The Astorians 

vessels had regularly called at the native coast 
villages. Astor shrewdly obtained a good 
footing with the Russian Fur Company, to 
the far north, and then proposed to plant a 
station at the mouth of the Columbia. For 
this purpose he organized the Pacific Fur 
Company, in which Canadians freely took 
stock and employment, and made arrange- 
ments for two expeditions to the Northwest 
Coast. One proceeded by sea from New 
York around Cape Horn, starting in Sep- 
tember, 1810; the other followed, in the 
main, Lewis and Clark's trail — from Montreal 
(June 10,1811) up the Great Lakes to Mack- 
inac, thence by the Fox- Wisconsin route to 
the Mississippi, then up the Missouri and 
overland to the Columbia. The sea party, 
after constant troubles between the com- 
pany's employees and the captain, arrived at 
the Columbia in March, and built the stout 
post of Astoria ; the land party, who had suf- 
fered innumerable hardships, reached their 
destination the following February (1812). 

The Nor' -Westers, jealous of this move- 
ment, promptly despatched Thompson to fore- 
stall the Astorians upon the lower Columbia ; 
14 195 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

but we have seen that he arrived too late, al- 
though the post which he planted farther up- 
stream greatly annoyed Astor's agents. News 
of the outbreak of the War of 1812-15 reached 
Astoria in June, 1813. In October following 
there appeared on the scene a vessel bearing 
North West Company's goods and traders. 
The latter contracted for the purchase of the 
Pacific Company's " establishments, furs, and 
stock in hand" for about fifty-eight thousand 
dollars — a very considerable sacrifice; but As- 
tor's local representatives were largely Cana- 
dians, who had a strong personal leaning to- 
wards the Nor'- Westers. While the transfer 
was being made, a British sloop of war put 
in an appearance, bearing orders "to take 
and destroy everything American on the 
north-west coast," and prepared to capture 
Astoria. But the trade having been made, 
its terms were respected. The American flag 
was replaced by the British, and Astoria re- 
christened Fort George. 

The name of Zebulon Montgomery Pike will 
always be associated with those of Lewis and 
Clark in the history of early exploration beyond 
the Mississippi. Pike was some twenty-five 

196 




ZEBULOX M. PIKE. 



# 



Zebulon M. Pike 

years of age and a first lieutenant in the same 
infantry regiment (the First) in which Lewis 
held a captaincy. In July, 1805, he was de- 
tailed by General James Wilkinson to ex- 
plore the Mississippi from St. Louis to its 
source ; report on sites for military posts; make 
treaties with the native tribes ; bring about a 
peace between the Chippewas and Sioux ; and 
ascertain all he could concerning the trading 
operations within American territory of the 
North West Company, and its influence upon 
the Indians. There was then no settlement 
above Prairie du Chien, the country to the 
north being still practically in control of the 
British traders and their savage allies. 

Building a stockade at Little Falls, the 
limit of navigation for his boats, Pike pushed 
on with a few men to Cass Lake, and ex- 
amined Turtle and Leech Rivers and Leech 
Lake. Returning overland in the early spring 
to his stockade and its winter garrison, he 
embarked for the south with his entire party 
and reached St. Louis in April. He executed 
an admirable map of the region traversed. 
Throughout this difficult expedition, Pike, 
who despite his " gentle and retiring disposi- 

197 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

tion" proved to be a man of great daring and 
executive ability, " performed the duties of 
astronomer, commanding officer, clerk, spy, 
guide, and hunter." He was at once promoted 
to a captaincy. 

The following summer Wilkinson de- 
spatched Pike upon another and far more im- 
portant and difficult exploration. Its primary 
object was to return to their friends fifty -one 
Osage Indians, some of whom had been upon 
a deputation to Washington, and the others 
but lately redeemed from captivity among 
the Potawatomis. This task completed, he 
was to accomplish a peace between the 
Kansas and Osages, to " establish a good un- 
derstanding" with the Yanktons and Co- 
manches, to " ascertain the direction, extent, 
and navigation of the Arkansaw and Ked 
rivers," to report upon various scientific phe- 
nomena, and to collect natural history speci- 
mens. 

The exploration of Eed Eiver was just then 
" an object of much interest with the execu- 
tive," as it was part of the proposed boundary 
between Spanish and American possessions 
and was erroneously supposed to have its 

198 



Red River 

source but a short distance east of Santa Fe, 
the capital of New Mexico. In the preceding 
February President Jefferson had — together 
with letters and other data from the Lewis 
and Clark expedition 1 — published interesting 
reports from Dr. John Sibley, a Revolution- 
ary surgeon and now an Indian agent, who 
had (March, 1803), under Government aus- 
pices, ascended the Red from its mouth to 
the Louisiana town of Natchitoches — then 
" a small, irregular, and meanly built village " 
of " forty families, nearly all French " — and 
obtained much valuable information regard- 
ing the upper reaches, as well as concerning 
the Indians " residing in and adjacent to the 
territory of Orleans;" also from William 
Dunbar, of Natchez, " a citizen of distin- 
guished science," who in connection with Dr. 
Hunter made an official tour of exploration 
(October 16, 1804-January 31, 1805) from 
Natchez down to Red River, and thence up 
that stream and its tributaries the Black and 



1 Message from the President of the United States, communi- 
cating Discoveries made in exploring the Missouri, Red River 
and Washita, by Captains Lewis and Clark, Doctor Sibley, and 
Mr. Dunbar (Washington, 1806). 

199 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

the Washita, to " the hot springs in the prox- 
imity of the last mentioned river." 

But a short time before Pike's own depar- 
ture, a party " consisting of Captain Sparks, 
Mr. Freeman, Lieutenant Humphrey, and Dr. 
Custis," with twenty men, followed the Dun- 
bar-Hunter route to Natchitoches ; they were 
there reenf orced by thirteen soldiers and their 
officers. Two hundred and thirty miles up 
the Red the party were halted (July 29th) by 
a Spanish guard, and " reluctantly consented 
to relinquish their undertaking." 

Leaving the mouth of the Missouri on the fif- 
teenth of July (1806), Pike — accompanied by 
Lieutenant James B. Wilkinson, Dr. John H. 
Robinson (a volunteer surgeon), one sergeant, 
two corporals, sixteen privates, and one inter- 
preter — ascended that river in rowboats to 
the Osage. Horses were procured at the 
principal Osage village, for thenceforth the 
journey was to be by land. 

Proceeding over the Kansas prairies, then 
gay with the flowers of early autumn, Pike 
(late in September) reached the Republican 
River, on the lower edge of what is now Ne- 
braska — the country of the dreaded Pawnees. 

200 



Pike's Expedition 

These lusty savages, whose animosities to- 
ward Americans had recently been inflamed 
by Spanish emissaries — sent thither because 
of jealousy of Pike's expedition — took no 
pains to conceal their anger at his intrusion 
on their domain, rightly judging his party to 
be merely the pioneers of an army of occupa- 
tion. They sneered, however, at his travel- 
worn squad of followers, and made invidious 
comparisons between them and the glittering 
cavalry squadron sent out as the ambassadors 
of the Spaniards. Notwithstanding this re- 
ception, the astute captain succeeded in imbu- 
ing his unwilling hosts with a certain sense of 
the importance of the Government that had 
sent him. The head chief sought to stop his 
farther progress by a show of force ; but was 
told that " the young warriors of his great 
American father were not women, to be turned 
back by words," that they " would sell our 
lives at a dear rate to his nation," and if van- 
quished would be succeeded by others who 
would "gather our bones and revenge our 
deaths on his people." 

With these brave words as a parting salute, 
Pike advanced southwest to the Arkansas, 

201 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

which he reached near Pawnee Fork. Send- 
ing Lieutenant Wilkinson down that river to 
explore it to its junction with the Mississippi, 
the commander ascended the stream to where 
it debouched from the mountains. 

Pike appears to have been the first to de- 
scribe the fine grazing plains of Nebraska and 
western Kansas as a " desert " — " a barrier," 
he says, " placed by Providence to keep the 
American people from a thin diffusion and 
ruin." It took over half a century to destroy 
this myth of the Great American Desert, for 
which Pike was responsible. When more 
gigantic systems of irrigation than now exist 
shall slake the thirst of these parched plains 
lying upon the eastern slope of the Rockies ; 
when what is at present being done for com- 
paratively narrow districts at the base of the 
hills shall be extended as far east as the 
rainy belt, this desert will everywhere blos- 
som as the rose. The cattle ranches are fast 
being subdivided into homesteads, and the 
cultivable area is rapidly growing before our 
eyes. We hear now and then the cry of the 
alarmist, that the limit of settlement in the 
great West is clearly in sight ; but there is 

202 



The Arkansas Canon 

still room for tens of millions of vigorous 
colonists in the upper valleys of the Missouri, 
the Platte, and the Arkansas, and the great 
plains stretching north and south between 
them. The Great American Desert of our 
childhood may yet become the garden of the 
land. 

It was the middle of November by the 
time Pike had ascended the inclined plane 
which leads gently upward for nearly a thou- 
sand miles, from the Mississippi to the 
Colorado foothills. The Arkansas Kiver, 
which the expedition was ascending, had now 
become a narrow torrent gushing forth from 
lofty mountains white with the snows of 
early winter. To the south the Spanish 
Peaks stood out in bold relief against the 
leaden sky; while to the north there was 
reared a mighty pile far overtopping the 
mountain wall which suddenly blocked the 
path of progress from the east. Taking a 
side tour from his camp at Pueblo, Pike set 
out to scale this forbidding height, and thus 
to obtain a view of the country beyond. In 
this enterprise he failed, declaring that " no 
human being could have ascended to its pin- 

203 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

nacle." Nevertheless, this storied hill, long 
after a landmark for emigrants going over- 
land across the plains, has ever since borne 
the name of "Pike's Peak." In our time, a 
railway conveys each summer thousands of 
tourists to the top of the great mountain 
which Pike himself could not climb. 

On every hand the ravines were now 
choked with snow, and the roaring rivers 
were bridged with frozen spray or gushed 
from beneath monster drifts. The Arkansas 
was ascended to the vicinity of the present 
Leadville ; but to follow up the stream to its 
ultimate source in the mountains appeared 
impracticable. Pike expressed the opinion 
in his journal 1 that " scarcely any person but 
a madman would ever purposely attempt to 
trace further than the entrance of those 
mountains which had hitherto secured their 
sources from the scrutinizing eye of civilized 
man." 

The party had, among other orders, been 
directed to find the sources of the Red River 
of the South, and to follow that stream down 
to a more genial climate. But all attempts to 

1 Edited by Elliott Coues (New York, 1895). 

204 



A Desperate Struggle 

discover it proved in vain. Foiled in every 
venture, frequently lost among the hills, 
and experiencing many a narrow escape from 
death at the hands of savage nature, the 
little band — "marching through the snow 
about two and a half feet deep, silent and 
with downcast countenances " — finally turned 
back, " for the first time in the voyage, dis- 
couraged." They long sought for the trail 
which had been taken by the Spaniards in 
their journey from Santa Fe* to the Pawnee 
villages on the Platte. But the snows had 
covered the plains, the trail was obliterated, 
and so they wandered back and forth, east 
and west, north and south, battling for life — 
a strange, weird story, indeed, for us to hear ; 
for the canons and mesas where Pike's sorry 
crew were beating to and fro in their des- 
perate struggle for existence are to-day among 
the best known and most easily accessible of 
Rocky Mountain summer resorts. 

Finally, by crossing the Sangre de Cristo 
Eange by way of Sand Hill Pass into San Luis 
Valley, they reached (January 30th, 1807) the 
upper waters of the Rio Grande del Norte, 
which Pike then thought to be the long- 

205 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

sought Red. In a " luxuriant vale " at the 
mouth of the Rio Conejos he built a cotton- 
wood stockade, and for a brief time reveled 
in " a terrestrial paradise shut out from the 
view of man." 

Dr. Robinson " having some pecuniary de- 
mands in the province of New Mexico," this 
was used as a pretext for sending that able 
lieutenant forward to the Spanish capital of 
Santa Fe. While ostensibly seeking to collect 
a debt for a friend — which he had a right to 
do under the Spanish- American treaty — the 
doctor was really to "gain a knowledge of 
the country, the prospect of trade, force, etc." 
In other words, he was a military spy. 

A few days later, Spanish spies arrived, 
reporting that Robinson had been kindly re- 
ceived by Allencaster, the Spanish Governor 
of New Mexico. On the twenty-seventh of 
February a troop of a hundred horsemen 
galloped into the camp, its commander tell- 
ing Pike that he was upon New Mexican 
territory and suspected of a project to seize 
the province — the assumption being that this 
expedition, following closely, as it did, on the 
heels of Captain Sparks's venture, was in 

206 



Imprisoned by Mexicans 

some way connected with Aaron Burr's fili- 
bustering scheme in the Southwest, against 
which the Mexican authorities had already 
been warned. 

Prisoners, although treated with great con- 
sideration, Pike and his party proceeded with 
the Spaniards to Santa Fe, intending to ex- 
plain their trespass on the ground of being 
lost in the mountains. Their appearance cer- 
tainly spoke for the truth of their assertions, 
for Pike writes in his report : " When we 
presented ourselves in Santa Fe, I was dressed 
in a pair of blue trousers, mockinsons, blanket 
coat, and a cap made of scarlet cloth lined 
with fox-skin ; my poor fellows were in leg- 
gins, breech cloths and leather coats, and 
there was not a hat in the whole party. This 
appearance was extremely mortifying to us 
all, especially as soldiers; although some of 
the officers used frequently to observe to me, 
that ' worth makes the man/ etc., with a vari- 
ety of adages to the same amount. Yet the 
first impression made on the ignorant is hard 
to eradicate ; and a greater proof cannot be 
given of the ignorance of the common people, 
than their asking if we lived in houses, or 

207 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

camps like the Indians, or if we wore hats in 
our country." 

The Falstaffian crew were not detained 
long in Santa Fe, being sent on to Governor 
Salcedo, at Chihuahua. This official, on polite 
pretense of wishing to study the papers and 
sketches of the expedition, retained the greater 
part of them ; thus compelling the captain to 
make up his report and map largely from 
memory, without those scientific details which 
he otherwise would have been able to pre- 
sent. This was indeed a cruel and unneces- 
sary blow to the ambitious explorer, and a 
distinct loss to the world. 

Thus poor Pike, sent home with Robinson 
in this beggarly fashion, under Spanish es- 
cort — northward through Coahuila and San 
Antonio — was in no happy frame of mind 
when on the first of July he reached Natchi- 
toches, then the southwesternmost limit of 
American settlement. Eight of his party had 
been detained in Mexico, but eventually all 
were returned to the United States. 



208 



CHAPTER XII 

THE SOUTH PASS 

Duking and for several years succeeding 
the second war with Great Britain there was 
no scientific exploration in the Rockies on 
either side of the international boundary. 
The rival fur companies maintained a warm 
and often bloody competition on the dis- 
puted Oregon border ; while their trappers 
and agents roamed freely from New Mexico 
to Alaska, although seldom penetrating the 
innermost fastnesses of the mountains. In 
1821 the Hudson's Bay and North West 
Companies combined under the name of the 
former, the expensive rivalry ceased, and 
peace reigned among the roving bands. 
Thereafter this semi-military trading corpora- 
tion opposed only the common enemy — their 
customers and neighbors, the often hostile 
aborigines, and the American settlers advanc- 
ing into our far Northwest. 

209 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

By 1819 the tide of American emigration 
had begun to flow toward the Missouri Val- 
ley and beyond — far less pronounced than 
a generation later, yet of enough impor- 
tance to warrant official attention. The 
woods of Kentucky and Tennessee were fill- 
ing up. Men of the Daniel Boone type, who 
panted for " more elbow room " when new- 
comers appeared in sight of their rude 
cabins, were pulling stakes and resuming 
their march toward the ever-shifting fron- 
tier — uncouth, unlettered backwoodsmen, but 
hardy sires of a vigorous and progressive 
race, unwittingly blazing the paths of prog- 
ress for that civilization which they sought 
to avoid, but which with the certainty of 
Fate followed closely upon their heels. 

Prom the reports of trappers, it had begun 
to be suspected by topographers that the 
Platte might possibly flow from some pass in 
the center of the Rockies, which would be 
easier of access and more practicable than the 
circuitous and difficult path by which Lewis 
and Clark and the Astorians had approached 
the Pacific. In 1819, Major Stephen H. Long, 
a topographical engineer who had made trips 

210 



Stephen H. Long 

to the Red and Washita Rivers in 1817-18, 
was deputed by President Monroe to discover, 
if possible, this desirable South Pass, and on 
his return to make an attempt to determine 
the sources of Red River. 1 

Steamboats were now coming into use, and 
the well-appointed expedition, including sev- 
eral military officers and scientific attaches, 
had a small craft of this character at its com- 
mand — the Western Engineer. 2 Setting out 
from Pittsburg early in April, the party 
descended the Ohio, and wintered at (old) 
Council Bluffs on the Missouri, near the junc- 

1 Long's party was the scientific branch of an expedition de- 
signed, primarily, to establish a strong military post at the 
mouth of the Yellowstone. But the military arm, under Colo- 
nel Henry Atkinson, although elaborately equipped, was badly 
managed, and after a sorry experience in the winter camp this 
feature was abandoned. Long, returning from Washington 
after this fiasco, carried new instructions, to make a scientific 
expedition to the mountains only, as related in the text. 

2 A letter written at St. Louis, June 19, 1819, ten days after 
the arrival of the strange craft at that town, says : u The bow 
of this vessel exhibits the form of a huge serpent, black and 
scaly, rising out of the water from under the boat, his head as 
high as the deck, darted forward, his mouth open, vomiting 
smoke, and apparently carrying the boat on his back." — Chit- 
tenden's History of the American Fur Trade of the Far West 
(New York, 1902), p. 571. It is thought to have been the first 
stern-wheeler made. 

15 211 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

tion of the Platte. Long's experiences on 
" the Great Muddy " differed strangely from 
those of Lewis and Clark, only sixteen years 
before. They had laboriously pushed and 
hauled open row- and sail-boats against the 
fierce flood and through the snags and saw- 
yers, at the rate of about nine miles a day. 
Long, while proceeding some three miles an 
hour, could from under the awning of his 
upper deck obtain a bird's-eye view of the 
country, and with equanimity study the 
printed journals of his harassed predecessors. 

Long and a companion descended the river 
in a canoe, and spent the winter in Washing- 
ton. He returned to camp in May (1820), 
with several accessions to the party, having 
proceeded overland on horseback from St. 
Louis to Council Bluffs. Sending the steam- 
boat home, the expedition, now composed of 
twenty persons, was thereafter mounted on 
horses, " and equipped for a journey in the 
wilderness," progress being resumed on the 
sixth of June. 

Proceeding up the Platte, through the 
country of the Pawnees, they found these 
haughty savages, in view of the growing 

212 



Long's Peak 

power of the American Government, disposed 
to assume a more reasonable attitude than 
hitherto. By way of the South Fork they 
reached the base of the mountains on the 
sixth of July, after a journey of about a thou- 
sand miles from the Missouri. The path these 
explorers thus struck out was afterward fol- 
lowed from Omaha west to the mountains, by 
the overland stages, and finally by the Union 
Pacific Railway. The lofty mountain now 
known as Long's Peak was seen and named, 
although not scaled ; but Dr. Edwin James, 
the botanist, geologist, and annalist of the 
expedition, 1 with two men, made the first 
ascent to the summit of Pike's Peak. 2 The 
Arkansas River to the south was reached a 

1 Account of the Expedition . . . under the Command of 
Major Stephen H. Long . . . Compiled by Edwin H. James 
(Philadelphia, 1823, 2 vols.). 

2 Long says in his notes: "From the information received 
from hunters and trappers, it was believed that no one, either 
civilized or savage, had ever ascended it before. . . . Dr. 
James having accomplished this difficult and arduous task, I 
have thought proper to call the peak after his name. " But 
Fremont, in the report and map of his explorations (1843-44), 
named it Pike's Peak, because locally known as that; and such 
it has ever since been called. 

Long's nearest approach to the peak named in his honor was 
St. Vrain's fort, forty miles distant. 

213 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

few days later. A detachment ascended this 
noisy stream as far as the Eoyal Gorge, where 
the perpendicular walls of rock ascend for 
upward of half a mile into mid-air, and the 
human voice can with difficulty be heard 
amidst the din of whirling waters. 

Small wonder that the explorers were dis- 
mayed. It was sixty years later before the 
railroad engineers, who now stop at few bar- 
riers, ventured to pierce the Royal Gorge of 
the Arkansas and connect Pueblo and Lead- 
ville by a road of steel. Tools, materials, 
provisions, mules, and men were lowered into 
the awful chasm by ropes dangling from the 
cliffs above. In one place, the gap between 
the mountain walls is so narrow that there 
was found no room for even the railway-bed ; 
for some distance, therefore, the track passes 
over a suspended bridge anchored in the 
mountain on either side, the boiling torrent 
plunging madly beneath. The screech of the 
locomotive brought new echoes to mingle 
with the old ; and now tens of thousands 
of tourists are each summer swept through 
this mighty gorge in luxurious observation- 
cars. As he turned back, baffled and dis- 

214 



A Dreary March 

mayed from the terrors of the Arkansas 
canon, Major Long, in his wildest flights of 
fancy, could have foreseen no such extrava- 
gances as these. 

"This morning," Dr. James writes under 
July nineteenth, " we turned our backs upon 
the mountains, and began to move down 
the Arkansa. It was not without a feeling 
of regret, that we found our long contem- 
plated visit to these grand and interesting 
objects, was now at an end. More than one 
thousand miles of dreary and monotonous 
plain lay between us and the enjoyments and 
indulgences of civilized countries. This we 
were to traverse in the heat of summer, but 
the scarcity of game about the mountains 
rendered an immediate departure necessary." 

Dividing their forces, one branch of the 
party, under Captain J. K. Bell, descended 
to the Mississippi by way of the Arkan- 
sas Valley ; the other, under Long himself, 
sought a homeward route in what was at first 
supposed to be the valley of the Ked, but 
which proved to be the Canadian, the chief 
tributary of the Arkansas — thus ending the 
third attempt of the Federal authorities to 

215 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

discover the sources of Red River. A side 
trip was made by Long (in October) to the 
hot springs of the Washita, which had been 
visited by Hunter and Dunbar in 1804. In 
the two large volumes which resulted from 
this notable expedition through many thou- 
sands of miles of wilderness, Long and his 
annalist, James, lay particular stress on the 
desert character and barrenness of the plains 
around the upper waters of the Platte and the 
Arkansas, adopting Pike's view that they 
were unfit for human occupation. 1 

Now that Long had led the way up the 

1 Three years later (1823) Long headed a small expedition 
which proceeded from Pittsburg overland to Chicago, a village 
then consisting " of a few miserable huts, inhabited by a miser- 
able race of men, . . . perhaps, one of the oldest settled 
places in the Indian country." Thence they went to Prairie 
du Chien and ascended the right bank of the Mississippi to Fort 
Snelling, which he had previously visited in 1817. Here, fitted 
out with a party of thirty-three men, he made the first accurate 
exploration of the sources of St. Peter's (or Minnesota) River. 
Continuing down the valley of the Red River of the North, he 
went to Winnipeg Lake and River; and by the Lake of the 
Woods, Rainy River, and Grand Portage route reached Lake 
Superior, along whose " dreary northern shore " he finally 
reached Sault Ste. Marie, the terminus of the expedition. The 
annalist of this tour was William H. Keating, mineralogist and 
botanist. See his Travels in the Interior of North America 
(London, 1828, 2 vols.). 

216 



The Santa Fe Trail 

valley of the Platte, emigration to the far 
West received a new impetus. It was many 
years before the Government again attempt- 
ed any extended scientific exploration in the 
Rockies ; but the public soon became familiar 
with the trans-Missouri country from the re- 
ports of trappers, traders, emigrants, rovers, 
and occasional Government officials, who sur- 
mounted countless obstacles reared by savage 
man and untamed nature in threading the 
valleys on the eastern slopes of the moun- 
tains and tracing the more accessible of the 
gorges. By way of illustration, let us glance 
at a few of these many exploits ; the space 
at our command in this series will not permit 
of specific mention of all. 

In 1825-27, Benjamin Reeves, George C. 
Sibley, and Thomas Mather surveyed and 
marked out a road u from the western frontier 
of Missouri, near Fort Osage, to San Fer- 
nando de Taos, near Santa Fe " — the Santa 
Fe trail, that had already long been used by 
merchant adventurers into the Southwest. 

In 1832 Ross Cox published an account of 
u six years of adventures on the western side 
of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes 

217 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

of Indians hitherto unknown" — a valuable 
work in connection with the history of the 
fur-trade, describing the author's ascent of 
the Columbia to one of its northern sources, 
and his crossing of the Eockies at the head 
of Athabasca Eiver, near Mount Hooker. In 
the summer of the same year (1832) Lieuten- 
ant James Allen, of the United States army, 
accompanied by Henry E. Schoolcraft, Indian 
agent at Mackinac, made " the first topograph- 
ical and hydrographical delineation of the 
source of the Mississippi." In the course of 
the tour they traveled two thousand miles — 
going out from Lake Superior by St. Louis 
Eiver, and returning thereto by way of the 
St. Croix and the Bois Brule. 

In 1822 General William H. Ashley, of 
St. Louis, organized the Eocky Mountain Fur 
Company, whose parties erected posts and 
traded far and wide through the mountains 
and in the Columbia basin. Two years later 
Ashley personally attempted — so far as we 
know, first of all white men — to navigate 
Green Eiver near South Pass, but failed. 
Three years later he entered the basin of 
Great Salt Lake, which he extensively ex- 

218 



Trading Expeditions 

plored, amid adventures by land and flood 
which it is a sore trial not to be able to relate 
in the present volume. Upon descending 
the Missouri with a cargo of furs, Ashley met 
near the mouth of the Yellowstone General 
Henry Atkinson and Major Benjamin O'Fal- 
lon, commissioners who, accompanied by a 
large military escort, had been negotiating 
treaties with the Missouri tribes and collect- 
ing information regarding the country. It 
had been the intention of the Government to 
plant several garrisoned posts in the trans- 
Mississippi country. But Atkinson having 
reported that he found no evidence of Brit- 
ish intrigue among the Western Indians, the 
project was delayed — Fort Leavenworth, es- 
tablished in 1827 near the mouth of the Little 
Platte, remaining the extreme Western garri- 
son until after 1843. 

Among the most interesting trading expe- 
ditions of the first third of the nineteenth 
century was that headed by Joshua Pilcher, 
a member of the Missouri Fur Company, who 
in 1827-28 wintered on Green Biver with 
forty-five men and over a hundred horses. 
After a long journey with nine companions 

219 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

through the Columbia region, "to ascertain 
its attractions and capabilities for trade," he 
returned to St. Louis (June, 1830) by way 
of the Athabasca, the Saskatchewan, the Red, 
the Mandan villages, and the Missouri. 

Alexander Philipp Maximilian, Prince of 
Neuwied, a German naturalist of considerable 
reputation, visited North America between 
1832 and 1834, and spent much of his time 
studying the natives of the upper Missouri. 
He was accompanied by Charles Bodmer, a 
competent artist, whose illustrations accom- 
panying Maximilian's book of travels 1 are in 
some respects the best extant, representing 
the American Indian in a state of uncontam- 
inated savagery. The student of Lewis and 
Clark finds in these pictures the best obtain- 
able illustrations of the Missouri Valley and 
its aborigines as seen by the explorers them- 
selves ; for during the intervening quarter of 
a century the tribesmen had remained prac- 
tically unchanged. 

Eminent among the mountain explorers 
who diffused information concerning the 
Western wilds and stimulated popular inter- 

' Travels in the Interior of North America (London, 1843). 

220 



Yellowstone Park 

est in them was James O. Pattie, another St. 
Louis fur-trader, who in 1832 published a 
modest narrative of adventure and discovery 
(1824-30) along the Colorado Kiver and the 
then mysterious Gulf of California. Pattie is 
thought to have been the first white man to 
cross the continent to California, just as Lewis 
and Clark were first to cross over to Oregon. 

William L. Sublette, who had been con- 
nected with Ashley's operations, was also, 
from 1826 to 1842, a prominent character 
among the mountain traders, explorers, and 
Indian fighters. By aid of posts on the 
Platte and the Missouri, he and his three 
brothers conducted an active opposition to 
the American Fur Company. Joseph Meek, 
a trapper in Sublette's employ, becoming lost 
from his party (1829), wandered into what 
is now Yellowstone Park, which Colter had 
discovered twenty-seven years before (p. 182); 
and in 1834 an American Fur Company clerk 
also visited this American Wonderland, in 
our time annually visited by nearly ten thou- 
sand tourists, from every land in Christendom. 

Captain Benjamin Eulalie de Bonneville, 
of the regular army, inspired by a hope of 

221 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

profit in the far Western far-trade, in 1832 led 
over a hundred men with wagons and goods 
from the Missouri to South Pass and on to the 
Columbia. He spent two years in trapping, 
trading, and exploring, with financial results 
that hardly paid the wages of his men. But 
his notes of the novel journey, brimming 
with romantic adventure, were edited by 
Washington Irving, who skilfully wrought 
from them one of the most interesting and 
exhilarating books in American literature. 1 

Bonneville's chief assistant, I. E. Walker, 
conducted (1833) a subsidiary trapping ex- 
pedition of thirty-six men to Great Salt Lake 
and to California, over the Sierras. They suf- 
fered severely from famine, exposure, and the 
Indians, but claimed to have been the first 
white visitors to the Valley of the Yosemite. 2 
The return was made the following year, 
although several of the men decided to remain 
permanently in California. 

Attractive, although often extravagant, 
narratives were published by several of Bonne- 

1 Not always strictly accurate, however, for Irving himself 
was unacquainted with the West. 

2 Chittenden's Fur Trade, p. 417. 

222 



Wyeth's Scheme 

ville's contemporaries. These books, closely 
succeeding one another, were widely read 
throughout this country and in England, and 
awakened among all classes of people an en- 
thusiasm which greatly stimulated the spirit 
of ambitious adventure. In the same year 
that Bonneville went West a party of twenty- 
two Bostonians, imbued with a desire for 
roving, and wishing to partake of the occa- 
sionally great profits of the fur-trade, formed 
a company to proceed overland to the Pacific 
coast. Their leader was Nathaniel J. Wyeth, 
who had evolved a trading scheme quite simi- 
lar to Astor's. Cooperating with his land 
party was a small vessel which sailed by way 
of Cape Horn to the mouth of the Columbia ; 
this was to carry to market the products of 
Wyeth's enterprise. 

The overland contingent, for ten days pre- 
vious to starting, practised frontier hardships 
on one of the islands in Boston harbor, at- 
tracting no small degree of popular wonder- 
ment by their showy and attractive uniform 
suits, a feature of which was a broad belt 
from which dangled bayonet, knife, and ax. 
Among other novelties, the expedition was 

223 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

provided with an amphibious machine, which 
when bottom up was a wagon, and the other 
side up a boat. This curious device occa- 
sioned high merriment at Harvard College, of 
which Wyeth was an alumnus, the students 
dubbing it a "Nat-Wyethium." 

The cumbersome omnibus-boat crossed the 
Alleghanies successfully, and greatly aston- 
ished the simple settlers along the route; 
but at St. Louis it was abandoned, together 
with other fantastic notions. After many 
strange adventures and much genuine hard- 
ship and peril on the plains and in the moun- 
tains, the saddened and weary Bostonians 
finally established themselves in the basin of 
the Columbia, where they became practical 
and valuable settlers ; but Wyeth's commer- 
cial dreams came to naught. 

Connected with a second expedition under 
Wyeth, in 1834, were two scientists, Thomas 
Nuttall, botanist, and John Kirk Townsend, 
naturalist, and four Methodist missionaries 
under Reverend Jason Lee. They accom- 
panied Wyeth as far as Snake River, but 
from there to the Willamette traveled with 
another party. Two years later (1836) 

224 



Whitman and Spalding 

Marcus Whitman, physician and clergyman, 
appeared on the Willamette, together with 
his wife and Reverend and Mrs. H. H. 
Spalding. They had ascended the Platte and 
reached Western waters through the South 
Pass, chiefly in company with parties of the 
American Fur Company. The wives of these 
two missionaries were the first white women 
known to have crossed the Rockies, their 
children being, so far as we can ascertain, the 
first whites born in Oregon. 

Several small governmental expeditions 
were undertaken at about this time, which 
deserve at least a passing mention. In 1833 
Colonel James B. Many headed a column of 
rangers as far as the head of Little River. 
Colonel Henry Dodge, of the dragoons, led his 
men the following year to visit the Comanches 
and Pawnees, and made an excursion into the 
country between the Red and Canadian Riv- 
ers, some seventy miles west of the Wichita 
Range. The next season (1835) he proceeded 
up the Platte and South Fork to its source, 
went south to the Arkansas, and returned to 
Fort Leavenworth by way of the Santa Fe 
trail. 

225 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

In 1841 General Hugh McLeod with six 
companies of troops escorted a trading cara- 
van to Santa Fe ; the party were captured by 
the Spaniards, and had some rough experi- 
ences, but, first of Americans, contrived to 
visit the source of Red River. 

A naval expedition under Commander 
Charles Wilkes visited Oregon in the same 
year, and sent out land parties through the 
Columbia basin. One of these crossed the 
Cascade Range, and reached the mouth of the 
Spokane; another surveyed the Columbia as 
far up as Walla Walla, ascended the Willa- 
mette, and crossing to the sources of the 
Sacramento, descended it to the Bay of San 
Francisco. 

Several explorations were made in the basin 
of the upper Mississippi (1836-40) 1 by J. N. 
Nicollet, a distinguished French astronomer 
and geographer, who was assisted (1838-40) 
by Lieutenant John C. Fremont, of the to- 
pographical engineers, concerning whom we 
shall presently hear. Mcollet was first to 

*In 1836-37 Nicollet was privately occupied in this work; 
but in 1838 he was employed by the Federal Government to con- 
tinue his task, Fremont being assigned as his assistant. 

226 



Nicollet's Services 

discover the true source of the Mississippi ; 
and his astronomical observations and conse- 
quent map were among "the greatest con- 
tributions ever made to American geography." 



16 227 



CHAPTEE XIII 

THE CONQUEST OF CALIFOKNIA 

In May, 1843, several hundred bold and 
restless pioneers, heavily armed, set out from 
Missouri with their women and children 
— over a thousand persons all told — and in 
wagons and on foot, accompanied by herds of 
neat cattle and horses, slowly traversed the 
broad plain which lies between the Missouri 
and the foot of the Rockies. Crossing the 
lofty mountain barrier amid many privations 
and perils, under Whitman's guidance they 
reached the verdant valley of the Willamette, 
and subsequently the Columbia, both of which 
were now rapidly filling with settlers who 
were dissatisfied with conditions in the East- 
ern States. The following year two thou- 
sand emigrants of a like character followed 
in their wake, to meet with the same experi- 
ences en route, and to share in the destitution 

228 



The Oregon Trail 

which in the first year or two usually befalls 
agricultural settlers in a new land. In 1845 
three thousand took up the line of march over 
the Oregon trail, a number nearly doubled in 
1847. 

The Hudson's Bay Company, whose traders 
and trappers still ruled with despotic sway 
over the far Northwest, was the violent en- 
emy of these newcomers, who were destroy- 
ing the hunting-grounds. Not infrequently 
the agents of the great corporation incited 
the Indians to infamous outrages upon the 
settlers — an easy task, for the tribesmen en- 
tertained a natural hatred for the land-grab- 
bing Americans, who were transforming the 
forests into farms, and in this rude process 
evincing no disposition to consider the rights 
of the aboriginal owners. Congress, with the 
question of political proprietorship in Oregon 
still in the diplomatic stage — and entertain- 
ing toward the new country an apathy long 
displayed in our day toward Alaska — was 
averse to taking measures of active protection 
in behalf of these distant frontiersmen. But 
at length, largely through the exertions of 
the irrepressible Senator Thomas H. Benton, 

229 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

of Missouri, the matter of the Western Terri- 
tories and other remote domains of the United 
States was brought before Congress in a 
manner in which the question must be dis- 
posed of. In 1848, after a protracted strug- 
gle, Oregon — its northern boundary estab- 
lished by the treaty with England two years 
previous — was created a Territory. 

Benton was a far-seeing, patriotic states- 
man, and foremost in his day in aiding the 
development of the great West. Wishing 
to facilitate emigration thither, he was con- 
cerned to know whether the South Pass, now 
the favorite transcontinental highway, was 
really the best. Nicollet, the French astron- 
omer and engineer, had just returned from 
his trip to the sources of the Mississippi, men- 
tioned in the preceding chapter. We have 
seen that in Nicollet's party was a young to- 
pographical engineer, Lieutenant John C. Fre- 
mont. Upon their return to Washington, 
Benton met Fremont and became interested 
in him. Both were men of enterprise ; both 
had lofty ideas of the possibilities of the 
West. Fremont had, while with Nicollet, 
cultivated a keen desire for exploration ; on 

230 



John C. Fremont 

his part, Benton had been seeking for an ex- 
plorer. The young lieutenant and the vet- 
eran statesman became warm friends ; Fre- 
mont wooed and won the Missouri Senator's 
fascinating and accomplished daughter, Jes- 
sie ; * and so it came about that early in 1842 
this gallant engineer was selected by Presi- 
dent Harrison to explore the South Pass " in 
aid of and auxiliary to the Oregon emigra- 
tion." 

Fremont's companions were twenty -one 
French Creole voyageurs, familiar with the 
Indian country through service for the fur 
companies ; Charles Preuss, a topographical 
assistant ; Maxwell, a crack hunter ; and, last 
but not least, the guide was Kit Carson, of 
Taos, who was to become world-famous from 
his connection with Fremont's explorations. 

The expedition of 1842 was well supplied 
with scientific instruments and other para- 
phernalia. Leaving the mouth of the Kansas 
in June, it proceeded up that, the Big Blue, 
and the Platte valleys and on through the 

1 They were married October 19, 1841. Fremont received 
the first intimation of Harrison's intention at the White House, 
New Year's following. 

231 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

South Pass. The lieutenant ascended Fre- 
mont's Peak, in the Wind River Range, and 
at the dizzy height of 13,570 feet "unfurled 
the national flag to wave in the breeze where 
never flag waved before." In the course of 
his journey he traveled two thousand miles, 
experienced much hardship, was frequently 
attacked by Indians, but succeeded in making 
very considerable additions to the existing 
stock of information concerning the Rockies. 
His report was a perfect narrative, clear, full, 
and lively, with an appendix abounding in 
minute scientific detail. 

In May, 1843, this time accompanied by 
twenty-nine frontiersmen, his scientific assist- 
ant Preuss, two young gentlemen who wished 
to see the country, and the redoubtable Kit 
Carson, Fremont started from St. Louis upon 
his second expedition. His proposed path was 
through the South Pass, and on to the country 
about the lower reaches of the Columbia. 
He had intended to be absent about eight 
months, but it was fourteen before he again 
set foot in St. Louis, where, in her father's 
home, he had left his brilliant wife. 

Kansas City, then a small village, was the 

232 




c 



W 




A Strange Request 

general rendezvous, and here the party were 
to wait several weeks for the prairie grass to 
get its full strength. A few days after their 
arrival, however, Fremont received a letter 
from his wife urging him to proceed at once 
to Bent's Fort, a Hudson's Bay fur-trading 
station, away out on the Santa Fe* trail, in 
southern Colorado, near where La Junta is 
now situated, and in that day far beyond the 
frontiers of civilization. It was a long march, 
seven hundred miles to the westward, with 
preparations incomplete and the grazing 
meager. There were no explanations, and 
Fremont tells us in his Memoirs that he mar- 
veled at the reason for this sudden move ; but 
having implicit confidence in his wife's judg- 
ment in all matters, promptly obeyed. Upon 
his return home the following year he first 
learned the reason for this strange request. 
It was well known that Fremont had 
started out with a wider purpose, and accom- 
panied by a larger and better-equipped force 
than he had had the year before. He was 
ambitious and enthusiastic, and entertained a 
scheme of exploration covering the entire Pa- 
cific slope of the United States, which then 

233 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

was, south of Oregon, Mexican territory. 
The memory of Aaron Burr's attempted con- 
spiracy to set up an empire in the Southwest 
had not yet faded. The air was filled with 
conflicting rumors of Fremont's purpose. It 
was the day when the proposed annexation 
of Mexico was being everywhere discussed — 
over the game of checkers in the corner gro- 
cery, in the village debating clubs, in chambers 
of commerce, in the corridors of the national 
Capitol. The young lieutenant was charged 
with being bent on carnage and conquest ; it 
was pointed out that he had with him a small 
brass howitzer or mountain cannon — in short, 
he was pictured as a political adventurer, a 
filibuster whom it were folly to allow to 
depart. There came, therefore, an official 
order from the Secretary of War for Fremont 
to at once return to Washington and explain 
why he was armed with a howitzer in addi- 
tion to ordinary arms, the secretary pointing 
out that it was a scientific expedition, not 
military, and must not be armed as if for war. 
It has often happened in the world's 
history that Fate has been outwitted by a 
woman. This was a case in point. Mrs. 

234 



A Woman's Strategy 

Fremont had been charged with discretionary- 
care of her husband's correspondence. When 
the order came, and was opened by her, she 
at once realized that there had been reached 
a crisis in his career. She saw that the pre- 
text for recalling Fremont to Washington 
was flimsy, and meant the abandonment of 
the expedition in obedience to senseless popu- 
lar clamor. Grasping the situation, and with- 
out consulting another person, she suppressed 
the order, and sent a messenger in hot haste to 
warn her husband to winter at a point far be- 
yond the reach of mail connections. She knew 
that as a military officer his sense of duty 
would not permit him to disobey the official 
order were he aware of its existence. She 
therefore sent him a woman's reason — he must 
fly because she willed it. Thus did the pres- 
ence of mind of daring Jessie Benton Fre- 
mont save the far West from another decade 
of neglect ; but for her, the expedition would 
surely have been given up, and her husband 
probably never have become a hero, a gen- 
eral, a senator, and a presidential candidate. 
Fremont sped westward. By the Santa 
Fe trail he reached Fort Bent. Thence de- 

235 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

fleeting northward, he visited St. Vrain's 
Fort, another Hudson's Bay post on the South 
Fork of the Platte, near where Denver now 
is. North of Long's Peak, by following up 
the Cache-a-la-Poudre Eiver, he forced a new 
pass through the outlying barrier of hills, and 
from here sought the Bear Kiver, which was 
descended into the basin of Great Salt Lake, 
a portion of which he also explored. From 
here he crossed over to the Columbia, reach- 
ing Pacific tidewater in November, having 
scientifically examined and mapped the whole 
intervening country. 

After visiting the Oregon settlers — who 
were gaining a foothold despite the fierce and 
often bloody opposition of the British fur- 
traders and the apathy of our own Govern- 
ment — the intrepid "Pathfinder," regardless 
of the oncoming of winter in the unexplored 
Sierras, turned southward to the Sacramento. 
He hoped to obtain supplies at Sutter's Fort, 
in that valley, 1 so as to enable his party to 
return homeward. 

1 Established in 1838-39, upon a grant obtained by Captain 
Sutter from the Mexican Government. Extensive agricultural 
operations were here carried on, with Indians as farm laborers. 

236 



Pioneers of Science 

The topography of the vast region which 
Fremont now entered had hitherto been 
qnite unknown. Previous conjectures as to 
it proved erroneous. Deep snows and rigor- 
ous weather were almost constantly encoun- 
tered. Along the edges of appalling preci- 
pices ; over rugged mountains ; through awe- 
some gorges with walls apparently reaching 
to the skies; scaling chasms; wearily climbing 
precipitous peaks whose summits extended 
beyond the clouds ; often narrowly escaping 
great avalanches miles in extent, apprehensive 
that at any moment a yielding snowfield 
might prove but a treacherous bridge over 
some unseen abyss, the daring pioneers of 
science plodded on through the dreary wil- 
derness, the extent and outcome of which 
were as little known to them as was the mys- 
terious Western Ocean to the adventurous 
Columbus of old. 

Indians refused to serve as guides in so in- 
hospitable and dangerous a region. Horses 
and men succumbed to the horrors of the sit- 
uation. " The slow and mournful procession 
of feeble, starving skeletons, crawled like a 
disabled serpent along their dangerous way, 

237 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

surrounded by the deep snows of the Sierra 
Nevada and by all the awful incidents of 
March among the rudest solitudes of nature." 
But throughout these half thousand painful 
miles the leader was undaunted ; his wonder- 
ful endurance, unconquerable determination, 
and masterly management have never been 
surpassed by any explorer. 

At last Fremont and his companions ar- 
rived (March 8th) and recruited at Sutter's 
settlement. Resuming their journey south, 
the valley of the San Joaquin was explored ; 
thence, recrossing the mountains through a 
gap, they skirted the Great Basin, journeying 
through a comparatively unknown world and 
making rich scientific collections. Great Salt 
Lake, Utah Lake, Little Salt Lake, and the 
great features of the western slope of the 
Sierra Nevada were all examined and ex- 
plored. For months, away above the ver- 
dant valleys, never out of sight of snow and 
ice, the expedition continued with unfaltering 
energy. Crossing the continental divide at 
an elevation of eight thousand feet, near the 
head of Pullman's Fork of the Platte, North 
and South Forks were visited, and the moun- 

238 



Fruits of Toil 

tains again crossed to the Arkansas, by which 
the plains were eventually reached. On the 
last of July (1844) the explorers were once 
more encamped at Kansas City, on the Mis- 
souri. All accomplished, Fremont returned 
home, Bearing rich fruits of his toil, danger, 
and heroism in an enlarged and satisfactory 
acquaintance with the resources of those vast 
and unappropriated mountain realms, and 
contributions to every department of science. 
His own narrative of the expedition 1 is charm- 
ingly written and singularly modest. 

Captain Fremont's third expedition (1845- 
47), for the purpose of finding the shortest 
route for a railroad to San Francisco Bay, 
closed with incidents of a most romantic and 
unexpected character. The summer of 1845 
was spent in exploring the watershed of the 
continental divide. In midwinter (January) 
Fremont, with a few followers, again crossed 
the Sierra Nevada Kange and went to Mon- 
terey, the capital of California, where per- 
mission was obtained from the Mexican Gov- 
ernor, General Jose Castro, to explore the 

1 Published by order of the United States Senate in 1845 ; and 
again in Fremont's Memoirs (Chicago, 1887), vol. i. 

239 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

Oregon and California hinterland. This per- 
mission was soon withdrawn, and Fremont 
ordered to leave the country. But the stub- 
born captain was not at first disposed to obey, 
and entrenched himself against a threatened 
attack from Castro. After a few days, how- 
ever, he retreated into Oregon. 

While upon the march (May 9, 1846) 
secret despatches arrived from Federal offi- 
cials, notifying Fremont that the country 
was about to be transferred to Great Britain, 
and that the now large American settlements 
on the Sacramento were threatened by Cas- 
tro. The explorer, with his little band of ad- 
herents, turned back and took a prominent 
part in the popular American revolt against 
Mexico ; and on July fourth he was elected by 
his fellow countrymen as their governor — a 
choice soon confirmed by Commodore Robert 
F. Stockton, who had arrived at Monterey 
with a frigate designed to capture California 
from Mexico. A treaty signed by Fremont 
with the Mexicans (January 13, 1847), re- 
sulted in the withdrawal of the latter, leav- 
ing the Americans practically in possession 
of the country. 

240 



Incredible Hardships 

General Stephen W. Kearny having ar- 
rived in California with a force of dragoons, 
fresh from his conquest of New Mexico, a 
dispute arose between him and Stockton as 
to who was to command in California. Fre- 
mont decided to obey the orders of the latter, 
although Kearny was his superior officer in 
the army. The captain-governor accompanied 
Kearny homeward in the spring of 1847, and 
on arrival at Fort Leavenworth was arrested 
for mutiny. The trial took place at Washing- 
ton, resulting in Fremont's conviction on tech- 
nical grounds. The penalty was remitted by 
President Polk, but the young officer forth- 
with resigned from the army. 

In October, 1848, Fremont organized a 
fourth expedition, of thirty-three men, at his 
own charge, this time seeking a practicable 
route to the Pacific through the Valley of the 
Rio Grande. While crossing the mountains 
the party were lost and suffered incredible 
hardships from hunger and cold, and some 
of them even practised cannibalism. Re- 
treating to Santa Fe, with the loss of all 
his animals and a third of his men, Fremont 
recruited a fresh party and successfully 

241 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

reached Sacramento the following spring. 
He now settled permanently in California, 
and for a long term of years the " Pathfinder " 
was one of the most active and distinguished 
residents of the Pacific coast. 

Fremont's several explorations, supple- 
mented by those of Major William H. Emory 
(1846-47), Captain W. H. Warner (1847-49), 
Colonel William W. Loring (1849), Captain 
H. Stanbury (1849-50), and other army offi- 
cers, who crossed the backbone of the con- 
tinent by different routes, intensified public 
interest in the land beyond the Missouri. 
Although the vast interior spaces of the plains 
and mountains were as yet unknown save to 
roving bands of explorers, trappers, and In- 
dian traders, already considerable definite in- 
formation had become disseminated among 
the people concerning the principal passes of 
the mountains ; while the narrow belts of the 
overland trails had become quite familiar to 
the residents of the " States." Each year 
parties of considerable size made the trans- 
continental trip. In many cases, however, 
they suffered hardship and privation of the 
most painful character. Of their struggles 

242 



Struggles with the Elements 

with the elements, their contests with Indians, 
their hunger, thirst, and toil, but little has 
been formally recorded, although traditions 
exist of horrors fortunately having few equals 
in the history of the world. 



n 243 



CHAPTEE XIV 

THE CONTINENT SPANNED BY SETTLEMENT 

Two months after the signing of the 
treaty with Mexico, which definitively gave 
to us California, the world was startled 
(April, 1848) by news that gold had been 
found in deposits of fabulous value at 
Sutter's Fort, Fremont's rendezvous in the 
Sacramento Valley. The American El Do- 
rado, so long sought in vain by Spanish wan- 
derers, had at last been discovered. The 
year previous, Brigham Young had led the 
Mormon vanguard to Salt Lake, seeking in 
its desert basin an isolated asylum from the 
hostile Gentiles. But the opening of the 
gold diggings led to a mighty westward rush 
along the overland trail that passed the very 
door of the Saints. During the spring and 
summer of 1849, 1,500 wagons, 40,000 oxen 
and mules, and 27,000 men were ferried across 

244 



The Passing Throng 

the Missouri, at the towns between Independ- 
ence and Council Bluffs. During each of 
the three succeeding years 100,000 persons 
from both hemispheres crossed the great river, 
probably half of them at St. Joseph. 

This enormous movement of population 
quickly resulted in the establishment west of 
the Missouri of ferries, trading-posts, and 
military stations, to accommodate and pro- 
tect the passing throng. A monthly mail- 
route was soon opened between the Missouri 
and the Pacific by way of Salt Lake ; in- 
creased to a weekly service in 1858 as far 
westward as Salt Lake. Another route was 
opened on the Santa Fe trail, from Inde- 
pendence to Albuquerque. It was 1858 
when St. Louis and San Francisco became 
connected by the Southern Overland Mail 
Company's expresses, which made the dis- 
tance in a month. 

California had for ten years been basking in 
a flood of golden glory, when (July, 1858) the 
precious metal was also found in the bed of 
Cherry Creek, at the base of the Colorado hills, 
where the progressive city of Denver now lies. 

By the following spring tens of thousands 

245 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

of men, of every age, color, and race, were 
pouring into the valley of Cherry Creek, or 
"the Pike's Peak country," as it was then 
called. The Peak itself is fifty miles to the 
south; but being the most prominent land- 
mark in the region, gave name to it all. Some 
came across the plains on foot, their worldly 
possessions on their backs ; others were har- 
nessed to hand-carts laden with their belong- 
ings ; one man trundled a wheelbarrow all 
the way out from Kansas City, a distance of 
nearly eight hundred miles. Daily stages 
were put on between Leavenworth and Den- 
ver — the " Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Ex- 
press " — a journey which occupied from ten 
to fifteen days, the fare being $100 for the 
687 miles. But the majority of the immi- 
grants, unable to meet this expense, came by 
"prairie-schooners," sighting the glistening 
mountain height for over a hundred miles to 
the east, and by it guiding their white-winged 
barks across the dreary plain. Up the val- 
leys of the Platte, the Smoky Hill, and the 
Arkansas, they came singly or in caravans, 
often insufficiently provided with the articles 
necessary for so hazardous a journey; hun- 

246 



Railroad Surveys 

dreds either perished miserably by the way or 
arrived at their goal half dead from fatigue, 
starvation, and the wounds of Indian arrows. 
Upon the sides of their canvas-covered wagons 
was often crudely traced in charcoal the jaunty 
motto of the day, " Pike's Peak or Bust ! " 
Many there were that "busted." The reports 
of the miseries and sufferings of the overland 
trail did not in the least, however, check the 
human tide which had set in the direction of 
the everlasting hills. 

The need for a transcontinental railroad 
was early recognized. We have seen that one 
of Fremont's objects in 1845 had been the 
survey of a railroad route to San Francisco 
Bay ; but the expedition ended in a manner 
little anticipated. From 1852 to 1854 the 
Federal Government sent out five surveying 
parties " to ascertain the most practicable and 
economical route for a railroad from the 
Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean": 

1. In 1853-54, Isaac Ingalls Stevens, a 
topographical engineer and then Governor of 
Washington Territory, headed a large party 
which surveyed a route from St. Paul to 
Puget Sound, along the forty-seventh parallel 

247 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

— a line now followed in the main by the 
Northern Pacific, the construction of which 
was not, however, completed until 1883. 

2. Lieutenant E. G. Beckwith, in 1854 5 
explored a route between the forty-first and 
forty-third parallels, which formed a basis for 
the work of the Union Pacific and Central 
Pacific, continuous systems which were phys- 
ically joined during May, 1869. 

3. Captain A. W. Whipple surveyed, in 
1853, the line opened by the Atlantic and Pa- 
cific road — the Pacific outlet of the Atchison, 
Topeka and Santa Fe, which connected with 
the Southern Pacific, completed in 1882. 

4. The Southern Pacific's line was de- 
lineated by Captain John Pope in 1854. 

5. A route for the Denver and Rio Grande, 
now running between Pueblo, Salt Lake City, 
Denver, and other points in the mountains, 
was surveyed by Captain J. W. Gunnison and 
Lieutenant Beckwith in 1853-54 — the former 
losing his life at the hands of Indians, or pos- 
sibly of both Mormons and tribesmen. 

Among other notable expeditions — to men- 
tion but a few of the many contemporane- 
ous surveys during this period of activity 

248 



Government Expeditions 

— were : The opening of a road from Puget 
Sound to Walla Walla, by Lieutenant R. 
Arnold (1854) ; the search by F. W. Lander 
(1854), at the request of citizens of Oregon 
and Washington Territories, for a railroad 
route through the Columbia Valley, and by 
way of South Pass and the Platte River to 
the Missouri ; Lieutenant R. W. Williamson's 
railroad survey through the passes of the 
Sierra Nevada and Coast Range and over the 
Colorado desert (1854) ; a railroad survey by 
Lieutenant J. G. Parke (1854-55) from San 
Jose to Fort Fillmore, New Mexico ; explora- 
tions of the Brazos and Big Wichita Rivers, 
by Captain R. B. Marcy (1854) ; the march 
from Fort Leavenworth to California by way 
of Salt Lake and the Oregon trail, by Colonel 
Edward J. Steptoe (1854-55); a mounted 
punitive expedition against the Indians, by 
Major G. P. Haller (1855), from the Columbia 
and through South Pass to Fort Boise ; a 
reconnaissance on the Missouri and Yellow- 
stone Rivers by Lieutenant G. K. Warren 
(1856) ; and the first Government expedition 
to Yellowstone National Park, in charge of 
Captain W. F. Raynolds (1859-60). 

249 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

The governmental surveys of the bound- 
ary between Mexico and the United States, 
undertaken at intervals between 1849 and 
1856, by Captain Whipple, ColonelJ. D. Gra- 
ham, Major Emory, and others, are also de- 
serving of mention in this connection; the 
country being carefully examined by these 
parties from the mouth of the Rio Grande to 
the Pacific, and much interesting scientific 
information obtained. During 1857 several 
Government expeditions were in the field — 
one of them, under Lieutenant Parke, was 
employed on the Canadian- American bound- 
ary-line ; others improved mountain surveys 
previously made ; while new wagon roads 
were opened up, the navigation of im- 
portant streams investigated, and territorial 
boundaries definitively established. A con- 
temporary report significantly declares, also, 
that "the Land Office surveys along the 
whole frontier are advancing steadily." 

By the opening of the war between the 
States the North American continent had at 
last been spanned by Anglo-Saxon settlement. 
The story of Rocky Mountain exploration had 

250 



Civilization Triumphant 

practically reached its end. The overland 
stages were quickly withdrawn upon the ad- 
vance of the Pacific railways. The buffalo 
and the grizzly soon disappeared. The In- 
dian, stoutly standing for his birthright, was 
cowed at last. There are no longer any Kit 
Carsons ; the French-Canadian voyageur and 
the Rocky Mountain trapper can only be seen 
in literature ; the explorers of to-day are 
the engineer armed with his level, the geolo- 
gist with his hammer, and the botanist with 
his tin box. Thrifty farms now abut each 
other to the uttermost limit of the rainy belt 
and are creeping along the irrigable bases of 
the mountains. Rapidly growing towns and 
cities besprinkle the map of the trans-Mis- 
souri. Subsidiary railways spider-web the 
land, while reaching out to gather sustenance 
for the main transcontinental thoroughfares. 
The broad, rolling plains where Coronado 
marched of old, where Pike, and Long, and 
Fremont made heroic records by combating 
nature, are the seat of gigantic cattle in- 
dustry — or perhaps we should say were, for 
we live fast in America and a decade may 
with us be the span of an epoch ; cowboys 

251 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 

and range cattle are fast being crowded out 
by homesteaders from every Eastern State and 
European land. In the picturesque mountain 
passes, canons, and parks, where the pioneers 
of civilization suffered martyrdom in the 
cause of human progress, are now palace-like 
hotels for the tourists of the world. Upon 
the hillsides and in the gulches, where in- 
dividual adventurers once won fortunes with 
the pick and the pan, giant corporations 
armed with costly and intricate machinery 
dig and delve for deeply hidden riches, the 
innumerable human ants in their employ 
being handled with the discipline, the regu- 
larity, and the system of an army corps. 
There are now peace and plenty. The Dark 
Continent of our grandfathers is the Light 
Continent of our day. The Far West has 
become the Great West. 



252 



INDEX 



Aird, , Indian trader, 183. 

Alaska, 209, 229; explored by 
Spain, 17. 

Albuquerque (N. Mac), 245. 

Alkali, on Upper Missouri, 137. 

Allen, Lieutenant James, ex- 
plores source of Mississippi, 
218. 

Allencaster, , governor of 

New Mexico, 206. 

American Antiquarian Society, 
Proceedings, 67. 

— Fur Company, organized, 194 ; 
opposition to, 221 ; traders of, 
225. 

— Historical Association, He- 
port, 78. 

— Philosophical Society, au- 
thorizes exploration, 74, 75, 77, 
93 ; owns Lewis and Clark jour- 
nals, 110, 187. 

Amherst, General Jeffrey, cap- 
tures Montreal, 46, 47, 

Arctic Ocean, reached by Hearne, 
50 ; by Mackenzie, 56, 57. 

Arikara Indians, Lewis and 
Clark among, 124-126, 183. 

Arizona, explored by Spanish, 7- 
10, 13 ; missions in, 13. 

Armstrong, Captain John, at- 
tempts Western exploration, 73. 



Arnold, Lieutenant R., opens 
wagon road, 249. 

Ashley, General William H. , ex- 
plorer, 218, 219, 221. 

Assiniboin Indians, guide Veren- 
drye, 33. 

Astor, John Jacob, fur-trader, 
194-196, 223. 

Astoria, built, 192, 195; trans- 
ferred to British, 196. 

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Pe 
Railway, 248. 

Athabasca country, fur-trade in, 
53,55,57,192. 

Atkinson, Colonel Henry, de- 
tailed for exploration, 211 ; 
treats with Indians, 219. 

Atlantic & Pacific Railway, 
248. 

Aulneau, Father Jean Pierre, 
Jesuit missionary, 31. 

Balboa, Vasco Nunez, crosses 

Darien, 3. 
Barbe-Marbois, Francois de, 

French minister, 85, 86. 
Bay, Baker's, 162. 
— , Green, Indians upon, 22. 
— , Hudson, discovered, 37 ; given 

to Hudson's Bay Company, 38 ; 

supposed passage to Pacific, 



253 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



41, 47, 50 ; expeditions on, 41- 
43, 50, 51. 
Bay, Monterey, discovered, 11. 

— of San Francisco, 226, 239, 
247. 

— of Tampa, Spanish posses- 
sion, 6. 

— , Youngs, site of Fort Clatsop, 
162. 

Beads, used as currency, 166, 
171. 

Bears, black, first encountered by 
Lewis and Clark, 115, 119 ; on 
Upper Missouri, 138, 142, 148 ; 
flesh used, 144. 

— , grizzly, met by Lewis and 
Clark, 120, 138-141, 149, 176 ; 
Indians hunt, 173 ; used for 
meat, 173, 180 ; disappearance 
of, 251. 

Beauharnois, Charles de la 
Boische, marquis de, governor 
of New France, 28, 35. 

Beavers, eaten by Lewis and 
Clark, 138, 148, 164 ; carry off 
pole, 149 ; dams impede naviga- 
tion, 179. 

Beaver's Head Cliff, Lewis and 
Clark at, 150. 

Becker, Sefior Jeronimo, Spanish 
writer, 82. 

Beckwith, Lieutenant B. G. , sur- 
veys railway route, 248. 

Bell, Captain J. R, descends 
Arkansas, 215. 

Benton, Thomas H., champions 
the West, 229, 230 ; meets Fre- 
mont, 230, 231. 

Bering, Vitus, proves insularity 
of America, 2, 23. 



Biddle, Nicholas, edits Lewis and 
Clark journals, 187. 

Bienville, Jean Baptiste le 
Moyne, sieur de, governor of 
Louisiana, 64. 

Bighorn Range, seen by Ve'ren- 
drye, 34. 

Big-horns (sheep), on Upper 
Missouri, 138; on Yellowstone, 
181. 

Bigot, Francois, intendant of New 
France, 35. 

Big White, Mandan chief, ac- 
panies Lewis and Clark, 182, 
183. 

Bismarck (N. Dak.), Lewis and 
Clark near, 126. 

Bitterroot Mountains, crossed by 
Lewis and Clark, 155-157, 173- 
175. 

Blaek Hills, early reports con- 
cerning, 49. 

Blackfeet Indians, angered by 
Lewis and Clark, 178. 

Bodmer, Charles, pictures Amer- 
ican Indians, 220. 

Bonaparte, Joseph, opposes 
Louisiana sale, 85. 

— , Lucien, opposes Louisiana 
sale, 85. 

Bonneville, Captain Benjamin 
Bulalie de, explorer, 221-223. 

Boone, Daniel, emigrates to Mis- 
souri, 88, 89, 115, 210. 

Boston, its fur-trade in North- 
west, 19. 

Bratton, William, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111. 

Broken Arm, Chopunnish chief, 
172. 



254 



Index 



Broughton, , claims the Co- 
lumbia for England, 162. 

Buffaloes, seen by Coronado, 9 ; 
first seen by Lewis and Clark, 
115 ; abundant, 118, 119 ; hunt- 
ed, 131, 132 ; on Upper Missouri, 
138, 142 ; invade camp of expe- 
dition, 141 ; mating season, 176 ; 
on Yellowstone, 180, 181 ; dis- 
appearance of, 251. 

Burr, Aaron, Southwest conspir- 
acy, 207, 234 ; kills Hamilton, 
183. 

Cabra (wild goat), on Missouri, 
119. 

Cabrillo, Juan Roderiguez, ex- 
plores Northwest Coast, 11. 

Caches, made by Lewis and 
Clark, 144, 153, 154, 157, 175, 
176, 179. 

Cahokia (111.), military post, 109. 

Calgary, French post near, 35. 

California, missions in, 14-17 ; 
traders visit, 19 ; first overland 
travelers to, 221, 222 ; Mexican 
territory, 234, 236, 239; Fre- 
mont in, 238-240, 242; con- 
quered by Americans, 87, 240, 
241 ; overland passage to, 242, 
243, 248, 249 ; gold discovered 
in, 244, 245 ; rush to, 244, 245. 

Cameawhait, brother of Saca- 
jawea, 153, 154. 

Canada, interested in exploration, 
22-24 ; source of revenue, 24 ; 
fur-trade of, 25-31 ; conquest 
of, 36, 40, 81 ; connected with 
Louisiana, 40 ; boundary of, 
250. 



Canadians, in fur-trade, 45, 55, 

100, 124, 127, 128, 190, 195, 196, 

231. 
Cape Horn, rounded by English, 

12 ; Lewis to return by, 101 ; 

Astor's expedition rounds, 195 ; 

Wyeth's, 223. 

— of Good Hope, Lewis to re- 
turn by, 100. 

— Mendocino, Cabrillo reaches, 
11. 

Carolinas, seat of Genet's in- 
trigue, 77. 

Carson, Kit, with Fremont, 231, 
232, 251. 

Carver, Jonathan, explores North- 
west, 46-50 ; Travels, 49. 

Cascade Mountains, crossed, 226. 

Castro, Jos6, governor of Cali- 
fornia 239, 240. 

Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 
turns Ledyard back, 70, 71. 

Cat Island, Columbus at, 1. 

Cavendish, Thomas, English ex- 
plorer, 12. 

Central Pacific Railway, sur- 
veyed, 248. 

Champlain, Samuel de, sends 
Nicolet to Wisconsin, 22. 

Charbonneau, Toussaint, inter- 
preter for Lewis and Clark, 11 , 
130, 145, 146, 152, 175, 179 ; dis- 
charged, 182. 

Charles II, charters Hudson's 
Bay Company, 37, 38, 40. 

Charleston (S. C.),Michaux's nur- 
sery near, 74, 78 ; Genet at, 77. 

Charlevoix, Pierre Francois 
Xavier de, French traveler, 
25, 26, 46. 



255 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



Chicago, Indian village, 216. 

Chickasaw Indians, habitat, 65. 

Chihuahua (Mex.), Pike sent to, 
208. 

China, American trade with, 20, 
53, 63, 194. 

Chinook lndians,on Pacific Coast, 
163, 165, 166, 168. 

Chippewa Indians, Pike among, 
197. 

Chittenden, Henry M., History 
of American Fur Trade, 211. 

Chopunnish (NezPerces) Indians, 
met by Lewis and Clark, 156 ; 
care for their horses, 157, 172 ; 
greet them on return, 171. 

Chouteau, Auguste, fur-trader, 
183. 

Cibola, Seven Cities of, sought by 
Spanish, 5-10. 

Cincinnati, military post, 72. 

Claiborne, William C. C, gov- 
ernor of Louisiana, 90. 

Clark, General George Rogers, 
selected for Western explora- 
tion, 68, 92 ; intrigues with 
Genet, 68, 69, 77, 78 ; Illinois 
campaign, 103. 

— , George Rogers Hancock, 169. 

— , John, removes to Kentucky, 
103. 

— , William, early life, 102-105 ; 
joins Lewis, 102, 104 ; com- 
missioned, 104 ; in winter quar- 
ters, 109 ; embarks, 110 ; as 
physician, 116, 133, 157, 170, 
171,179; describes the Sioux, 
118 ; attitude toward Canadi- 
ans, 128 ; practical woodsman, 
130 ; aids Mandans, 131 ; goes 



hunting, 135 ; master of navi- 
gation, 142, 143, 148-150; at 
Three Forks of Missouri, 145 ; 
ill, 145, 150 ; explores the Lem- 
hi, 153, 154 ; advance guard 
of party, 156 ; temperament of, 
167, 168; returns by Yellow- 
stone, 175, 179-181; rejoined 
by Lewis, 179. See also, Lewis 
and Clark. 

Clatsop Indians, Lewis and Clark 
among, 163-169. 

Coahuila (Mex.), Pike in, 208. 

Coal, on Upper Missouri, 137. 

Coast Range, surveyed, 249. 

Collins, John, accompanies Lewis 
and Clark, 111. 

Colorado, foot-hills of, 203 ; des- 
ert, 249; explored by French, 
64; posts in, 233, 235; gold 
discovered, 245 ; emigration to, 
246, 247 ; railways through, 
248, 249. 

Colter, John, accompanies Lewis 
and Clark, 111 ; later history, 
182. 

Columbia Valley, natives of, 158, 
160,170; game, 160, 164; cli- 
mate, 160 ; treeless, 170 ; ex- 
plored, 220 ; trading-posts in, 
218 ; Wyeth's party, 224 ; ex- 
plored by Wilkes, 224 ; settled, 
228 ; railway through, 249. See 
also, River Columbia. 

" Columbia," ship on Northwest 
Coast, 19, 20. 

Columbus, Christopher, discovers 
America, 1, 2, 136. 

Comanche Indians, Pike among, 
198 ; Dodge, 225. 



256 



Index 



Congress, grants funds for Lewis 
and Clark expedition, 95, 99 ; 
disposes of Oregon question, 
230. 

Cook, Captain James, English 
explorer, 16, 17, 19, 67, 70, 136 ; 
Ledyard accompanies, 69, 71. 

Coronado, Francisco Vasquez de, 
Spanish explorer, 8-10, 12, 251. 

Cortez, Fernando, conquers Mex- 
ico, 3, 6 ; explorations of, 3, 4 ; 
returns to Spain, 8. 

Coues, Elliott, Lewis and Clark, 
104 ; Pike's Journals, 204. 

Council Bluffs (la.), 245; Long 
at, 211, 212. 

Cox, Ross, story of adventures, 
217, 218. 

Coyotes, on Upper Missouri, 138. 

Creek, Beargrass, 103. 

— , Charbonneau, 137. 

— , Cherry (Colo.), 245, 246. 

— , Travelers' Rest, 174, 181. 

Cruzatte, Peter, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111 ; wounds 
Lewis, 178. 

Cuadra (Quadra), , Spanish 

explorer, 16-18. 

Curry, Thomas, Scotch fur-trad- 
er, 45, 46. 

Custis, Dr. , explorer, 200. 

Darien, Isthmus of, crossed by 
Balboa, 3. 

Davis, Andrew McFarland, 
American antiquarian, 67. 

De Bourgmont, Etienne Ven- 
yard, French commandant, 64. 

Deer, on Missouri, 118, 1 19 ; Co- 
lumbia, 160 ; Yellowstone, 181. 



De Gonnor, Father Nicolas, Jes- 
uit missionary, 26, 28. 

De Lassus, Charles Dehault, gov- 
ernor of St. Louis, 90, 91, 107. 

Denver (Colo.), 236, 245, 246, 248. 

Denver & Rio Grande Railway, 
surveyed, 248. 

Desert, Great American, de- 
scribed by Pike, 202, 203, 216. 

Dobbs, Arthur, 50 ; attacks Hud- 
son's Bay Company, 42-44; 
governor of North Carolina, 44. 

Dodge, Colonel Henry, explorer, 
225. 

Dogs, used for food, 158, 164, 168. 

Dominguez, , Spanish ex- 
plorer, 16. 

Dourion, Pierre, joins Lewis and 
Clark, 115, 117. 

Drake, Sir Francis, English ex- 
plorer, 12, 47. 

Draper, Lyman C, manuscript 
collection, 68. 

Drouillard, George, interpreter 
for Lewis and Clark, 111, 151, 
164. 

Ducks, upon the Missouri, 119. 

Du Luth, Daniel Greysolon, 
French trader, 24. 

Dumont, , Memoir es de la 

Louisiane, 65. 

Dunbar, William, explorer, 199, 
200, 216. 

Du Pratz, Le Page, Histoire de 
la Louisiane, 65. 

Du Tisne, , French explorer, 

64. 



East Indian Company, monop- 
olizes China trade, 20, 53. 



257 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



Elk, on Missouri River, 118, 119, 
138 ; on Jefferson, 148 ; on Co- 
lumbia, 160, 165 ; on Yellow- 
stone, 181 ; flesh used as meat, 
144, 168. 

Emory, Major William H., ex- 
plorer, 242, 250. 

English, seek South Sea, 2, 3; 
explore Atlantic Coast, 10, 41 ; 
in the Pacific, 12; explore 
Northwest Coast, 16, 17, 20; 
secure Northwest Coast, 18 ; in 
fur-trade, 27, 36, 127, 165; 
found Hudson's Bay Company, 
37-40 ; acquire North America, 
44, 81 ; forward North Amer- 
ican exploration, 68. 

Escalante, Father , Spanish 

missionary, 16. 

Eskimos, massacred, 50 ; visited 
by Mackenzie, 57. 

Fallen Timbers, battle of, 103. 

Falls, Great, of Missouri, 144, 
174-176. 

— , Little, Pike at, 97. 

— of St. Anthony, Carver at, 
48. 

Federalists, oppose Louisiana 
Purchase, 86, 87. 

Fields, Joseph, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111. 

— , Reuben, accompanies Lewis 
and Clark, 111, 177. 

Finlay, James, Scotch fur- 
trader, 46. 

Florida, Spanish possessions, 
6, 82; visited by Michaux, 
74 ; acquired by United States, 
87. 



Floyd, Sergeant Charles, with 
Lewis and Clark, 111 ; death, 
111, 117. 

Font, Father , Spanish mis- 
sionary, 16. 

Ford, Paul Leicester, Writings 
of Thomas Jefferson, 70-72, 75, 
98. 

Fort Beauharnois, French post, 
26. 

— Bent, Fremont at, 233, 235. 

— Boise, Indian expedition at, 
249. 

— Bourbon, French post, 32. 

— Chepewyan, in Athabasca 
country, 55, 57, 58. 

— Clatsop, Lewis and Clark at, 
162-169. 

— Dauphin, French post, 32. 

— Fillmore, railway survey to, 
249. 

— George, Astoria, English at, 
196. 

— La Jonquiere, built by St. 
Pierre, 35. 

— La Reine, French post, 32, 33. 

— Leavenworth, explorers at, 
219, 225, 241, 249. 

— McLeod, on Peace River, 58 , 
60. 

— Mandan, Lewis and Clark at, 
111, 119, 126-136. 

— Massac, Lewis at, 106. 

— Maurepas, built by Veren- 
drye, 31, 32. 

— Niagara, British post, 47. 

— Orleans, on Missouri, 64. 

— Osage, road from, 217. 

— Prince of Wales, Hudson 
Bay, 50, 51, 54. 



258 



Index 



Fort Rouge, French post, 32. 

— St. Charles, built by Veren- 
drye, 30-32. 

— St. Pierre, built by Veren- 
drye, 30, 32. 

— St. Vrain, Long at, 213 ; 
Fremont, 236. 

— Snelling, Long at, 216. 

— Sutter, Fremont's base, 236, 
238, 244. 

Fox Indians, French contend 
with, 26. 

Fox-Wisconsin route, 195. 

Franciscans, as explorers, 12 ; 
as missionaries in Southwest, 
13 ; in California, 14-16. 

Fraser, Simon, on Peace River, 
191 ; early life, 192 ; explores, 
192-194. 

Frazier, Robert, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111. 

Freeman, , explorer, 200. 

Fremont, Jessie Benton, 231, 
234. 

— , John C, 251 ; with Nicol- 
let, 213, 226, 230 ; meets Ben- 
ton, 230, 231 ; commissioned 
for exploration, 231, 247; 
first expedition of, 231, 232; 
report, 232 ; second expe- 
dition, 232-239; ordered to 
Washington, 234, 235; third 
expedition, 239-241 ; aids Cali- 
fornia revolt, 240, 241 ; court- 
martialed, 241 ; fourth expedi- 
tion, 241, 242; Memoirs, 233, 
239. 

Fremont's Peak, named, 232. 

French, explore Mississippi Val- 
ley, 22, 23, 62; posts in North- 



west, 24-26, 30-32, 35, 36, 40 ; 
explorations toward Pacific, 2, 
24-36 ; missions, 13, 14 ; on 
Northwest Coast, 20 ; war with 
Foxes, 26 ; explore Missouri, 
63-67, 137 ; lose American pos- 
sessions, 81 ; recover Louisi- 
ana, 81, 88, 94 ; send expedition 
to Santo Domingo, 82 ; surren- 
der Louisiana, 90. 

Frobishers, Benjamin and Jo- 
seph, fur-trade house, 52, 54. 

Frontiersmen, desire navigation 
of Mississippi, 83 ; join Lewis 
and Clark expedition, 106 ; 
advance civilization, 210 ; in 
Oregon, 229, 230. 

Fur-trade, French in, 24, 25, 27- 
31, 109; English, 27, 44-46, 
127-129, 190; Americans, 19, 
21, 129, 194, 195, 218, 219, 
222; competition, 51, 54, 209, 
221 ; on Northwest Coast, 18- 
21, 165, 192; at mouth of Co- 
lumbia, 165 ; on Missouri, 183, 
184. See also, the several com- 
panies. 

Galissoniere, Michel Rolland 
Barrin, marquis de, governor 
of New FraDce, 35. 

Gallatin, Albert, river named 
for, 146. 

Gass, Sergeant Patrick, with 
Lewis and Clark, 111, 117. 

Geese (wild), on Missouri, 119. 

Genet, Charles, French envoy, 
69, 77, 78. 

Georgia, seat of Genet's in- 
trigue, 77. 



18 



259 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



Germans, in fur-trade, 55 ; emi- 
grants in Missouri Valley, 64. 

Gibson, George, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111 ; hurt, 
180. 

Goats (wild). See Cabra. 

Goodrich, Silas, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111, 175. 

Graham, Colonel J. D., explorer, 
250. 

Grand Portage, route of, 216 ; 
Carver at, 49 ; center for fur- 
trade, 53, 190, 191; Fraser 
agent at, 192. 

Gray, Captain Robert, discovers 
Columbia, 19, 162. 

Great Lakes, French on, 2, 40 ; 
fur-trading expedition, 195. 

Grijalva, Juan de, Spanish ex- 
plorer, 4. 

Grimm, Friedrich Melchior, 
baron von, cooperates with 
Jefferson, 71. 

Groseilliers, Medard Chouart, 
sieur des, discovers Lake Su- 
perior, 37. 

Grosventre Indians, Lewis and 
Clark among, 130, 132, 135. 

Guignas, Father Michel, Jesuit 
missionary, 26. 

Gulf of California, Spanish on, 2, 
7, 12 ; explored by Americans, 
221. 

— of Mexico, explored by 
Spanish, 3; Mississippi emp- 
ties into, 62 ; Spanish posses- 
sions on, 77. 

— of St. Lawrence, explored, 41. 
Gunnison, Captain J. W., sur- 
veys for railway, 248. 



Guzman, Nunez Beltran de, 
Spanish explorer, 5-8. 

Hall, Hugh, accompanies Lewis 
and Clark, 111. 

Haller, Major G. P., leads In- 
dian expedition, 249. 

Hamilton, Alexander, subscribes 
for Western exploration, 75 ; 
killed by Burr, 183. 

Haney, , Indian trader, 176, 

181. 

Harmar, General Josiah, West- 
ern commandant, 72, 73. 

Harper's Ferry (Va.), Lewis at, 
99. 

Harrison, William Henry, gov- 
ernor of Northwest Territory, 
186 ; president, 231. 

Hawaii, Americans trade in, 21. 

Hearne, Samuel, explores for 
Hudson's Bay Company, 50, 
51, 55. 

Heceta, , Spanish explorer, 

16, 17. 

Henry, Alexander (elder), Scotch 
fur-trader, 45. 

— , Alexander (younger), 45. 

Hooke, Lieutenant Moses, Clark's 
alternative, 102. 

Howard, Thomas P., accompan- 
ies Lewis and Clark, 111. 

Hudson, Hendrik, seeks Western 
Ocean, 3. 

Hudson's Bay Company, organ- 
ized, 37, 38 ; opposes explora- 
tion, 39, 189, 190 ; methods of, 
38-40 ; territory, 38, 44 ; expe- 
ditions, 41-43, 50, 57; attacked, 
41-44 ; rivalry with, 27, 53, 57, 



260 



Index 



128; combines with North 
West Company, 209 ; opposes 
Oregon settlement, 229, 236 ; 
trading-posts in Colorado, 233, 
235. 

Humphrey, Lieutenant , ex- 
plorer, 200. 

Hunter, Dr. , explorer, 199, 

200, 216. 

Idaho, Lewis and Clark in, 154- 
156, 172-175. 

Independence (Kans.), emigrant 
center, 245. 

Indian Territory, crossed by 
Spanish, 7. 

Indians, in savage state, 220; 
customs, 49, 131 ; ceremonies, 
116, 118, 122, 152 ; as hunters, 
131, 132, 173, 180; in pueblos, 
7, 8 ; intertribal barter, 166 ; 
vocabularies, 131 ; sign lan- 
guage, 153 ; invent geographic 
tales, 63; make maps, 24, 28, 
63 ; in missions, 15, 16 ; de- 
bauched by traders, 52, 54; 
fond of whisky, 122, 125; 
act establishing trading-houses 
among, 93; steal horses, 177, 
180 ; hate frontiersmen, 229 ; 
in Columbia Valley, 158, 159, 
164. 

Irish, in fur-trade, 127. 

Irrigation, need for, 202, 203. 

Irving, Washington, Astoria, 53 ; 
Bonneville's Adventures, 222. 

James, Dr. Edwin H, with 
Long, 213-216 ; account of 
Long's expedition, 213, 216. 



Jefferson, Thomas, plans West- 
ern exploration, 26, 67-80, 92- 
95 ; subscribes for Western 
exploration, 75 ; instructs 
Michaux, 75-77; relation to 
Genet intrigue, 78, 79 ; at- 
tempts to purchase New Or- 
leans, 82-84 ; scruples against 
Louisiana acquisition, 86, 87; 
friendship for Lewis, 96-98; 
sends out Lewis and Clark ex- 
pedition, 86, 92-95, 99-102, 131, 
135, 169, 186 ; rivers named 
for, 145, 150; deposits journals 
of expedition at Philadelphia, 
187; message of, 199; his 
own papers, 169 ; " Autobiog- 
raphy," 70. 

Jesuit missionaries, Spanish, 13- 
15 ; French, 25, 26, 30. 

Jiminez, , Spanish explorer, 

4. 

Jolliet, Louis, French explorer, 
23, 62. 

Jussaume, Rene, interpreter, 182, 
183, 190. 

Kamchatka, Ledyard en route 
for, 70, 71, 92. 

Kaministiquia, post on Lake Su- 
perior, 36, 45. 

Kansas Indians, Pike among, 198. 

— , crossed by Spanish explor- 
ers, 9 ; by Pike, 200, 202. 

— City (Mo.), 246; Fremont's 
rendezvous, 232, 233, 239. 

Kaskaskia Indians, in Philadel- 
phia, 75. 

— (111.), captured by Clark, 68 ; 
military post, 90, 106, 109. 



261 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



Kearny, Stephen W. , in Califor- 
nia, 241. 

Keating, William H., Travels in 
Interior of North America^ 
216. 

Kentucky, Genet's intrigue in, 
77, 78 ; frontier posts, 96 ; 
well settled, 210. 

Kino, Father , Jesuit mis- 
sionary, 13. 

Knox, General Henry, promotes 
Western exploration, 72, 73, 
92. 

— County (Nebr.), Lewis and 
Clark in, 117. 

Kootenay House, trading-post, 
191. 

Labiche, Francis, accompanies 

Lewis and Clark, 111. 
La Charette (Mo.), Lewis wishes 

to winter at, 107; Boone's 

settlement, 115 ; welcomes 

Lewis and Clark, 185. 
La Chine, La Salle's settlement, 

22. 
" Lady Washington," on North- 
west Coast, 19. 
La Harpe, Benard de, French 

explorer, 64. 
Lahontan, Armand Louis de 

Delondarce, baron de, French 

traveler, 63. 
La Jemeraye, Christophe Dufros 

de, French explorer, 2, 30. 
La Jonquiere, Jacques Pierre de 

Taffanel, marquis de, governor 

of New France, 35. 
La Junta (Colo.), Fremont near, 

233. 



Lake Athabasca, explorers on, 
50, 55-57, 192. 

— Cass, Pike on, 197. 

— , Great Salt, 222, 245 ; basin 
explored by Spanish, 16; by 
Ashley, 218 ; by Fremont, 236, 
238 ; Mormons on, 244. 

— , Great Slave, fur-trade on, 
55, 56. 

— , Leech, Pike at, 197. 

— , Little Salt, Fremont at, 238. 

— Manitoba, 190; French post 
on, 32. 

— Nepigon, French explorations 
on, 24 ; post on, 27. 

— Pepin, French post on, 26. 
— , Rainy, French on, 28, 190. 

— Superior, discoverers of, 37; 
French explorations near, 23, 
25, 29, 40 ; trade on, 31, 45 ; 
posts, 36, 53, 190; Carver at, 
48, 49 ; waterways from, 28, 49, 
53, 63, 191, 218; Fraser on, 
194 ; Long, 216. 

— Utah, discovered, 16, 238. 

— Winnipeg, French on, 28, 30- 
32, 190, 216. 

— of the Woods, 28, 30, 32, 188, 
189, 216 ; massacre upon, 31 ; 
to be located by Lewis, 100. 

La Libert^, , accompanies 

Lewis and Clark, 111, 116, 117. 

Lancaster (Pa.), Lewis at, 99. 

Lander, F. W., railroad surveyor, 
249. 

La Perouse, Jean Francois de 
Galaup, comte de, French ex- 
plorer, 17. 

La Perriere, Rene Boucher de, 
French commandant, 26, 46. 



262 



Index 



La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur 
de, at La Chine, 22 ; explores 
Mississippi, 23. 

Laussat, Pierre Clement, French 
envoy, 90. 

Leadville (Colo.), 214; Pike at, 
204. 

Leavenworth (Kans.), 246. See 
also, Fort Leavenworth. 

Ledyard, John, American ex- 
plorer, 67, 69-72, 92; Journal 
of Cook's voyage, 67, 69. 

Lee, Rev. Jason, missionary, 224. 

Lepage, Baptiste, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111. 

Le Roux, , Canadian fur- 
trader, 55, 56. 

Lery, Gaspard Chaussegros de, 
Canadian engineer, 29. 

Lewis, Meriwether, early life, 
95-99, 197; Jefferson's private 
secretary, 95, 96, 98; receives 
instructions for Western ex- 
pedition, 86, 99-102 ; prepara- 
tions, 98, 99; invites Clark, 
102 ; winters at River Dubois, 
91; at St. Louis, 109, 110; 
witnesses transf erof Louisiana, 
91, 109 ; joins expedition at St. 
Charles, 112 ; letter to mother, 
113 ; collects botanical speci- 
mens, 114, 115 ; as physician, 
116, 133, 170, 171; attitude 
toward British, 128 ; concil- 
iates Indians, 130, 154, 159, 
183 ; accompanies hunters, 139 ; 
adventures with a grizzly, 139, 
140 ; helps navigation, 143 ; 
discovers Great Falls of the 
Mi«souri, 144 ; at Three Forks 



of Missouri, 145 ; searches for 
Indians, 148-151; spends soli- 
tary night, 149 ; meets Indians, 
151, 152; returns to Falls of 
Missouri, 174-176 ; explores 
Maria's River,176,177; quarrels 
with Minitarees, 177 ; escapes 
from Indians, 177, 178 ; wound- 
ed, 178, 179 ; rejoins Clark, 179, 
181 ; healed, 184 ; later life, 187 ; 
temperament, 167; Jefferson's 
tribute, 97, 98. 
Lewis and Clark's expedition, 
planned, 93-95 ; instructions, 
99-102; recruiting, 106; per- 
sonnel, 111,169; descends Ohio, 
102, 105-107; winters at River 
Dubois, 107-110; starts up 
Missouri, 67, 110, 111; lives 
upon country, 114; up the 
Missouri, 111-128; adventures 
with Indians, 121, 123 ; arrives 
at Fort Mandan, 32. 126; op- 
posed by traders, 128, 129 ; life 
at Fort Mandan, 132-135 ; de- 
serters returned, 135; leaves 
Fort Mandan, 136 ; on Upper 
Missouri, 137-145 ; provisions 
cached, 144 ; portages, Falls of 
Missouri, 144 ; at Three Forks 
of Missouri, 145; up Jefferson 
River, 145-150 ; at source of 
Missouri, 151 ; crosses the 
divide, 155-157; down the 
Columbia, 157-161 ; reaches 
tide- water, 159 ; reaches Pacific, 
160, 161 ; winters at Fort Clat- 
sop, 162-169; prepares for re- 
turn, 168, 169 ; up the Columbia, 
169-171 ; on Clearwater trail, 



263 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



171; in camp on Clearwater, Lugtenberg, 
172, 173 ; recrosses the moun- 63. 

tains, 173, 174; divided, 174- 
176 ; recruited, 179, 181 ; dressed 
in skins, 181, 184; returns to 
St. Louis, 181-187; welcomed, 
185, 186 ; manuscript journals 
cited, 105, 107, 110, 163, 164, 
169, 179, 180, 186, 187 ; Biddle 
narrative, 78, 97, 199. 
Livingston, Robert R., minister 

to France, 84-86. 
Lolo trail, followed by Lewis and 

Clark, 155-157, 174. 
Long, Major Stephen H., 251; 
seeks South Pass, 210 ; prepara- 
tions, 211, 212; in Rockies, 
213-215 ; return journey, 215 ; 
later life, 216. 
Long's Peak, 236; discovered, 213. 
Loring, Colonel William W., ex- 
plorer, 242. 
Lotbiniere, Sir Henry Joli, 
lieutenant-governor of British 
Columbia, 18. 
Louis XV, cedes Louisiana to 

Spain, 81. 
Louisiana, connected with Can- 
ada, 40; ceded to Spain, 81; 
retroceded to France, 81, 88; 
purchased by United States, 
85, 86, 105, 107, 189; transfer 
of, 89, 90, 110, 112, 128 ; results 
of purchase, 87, 88 ; population 
of, 88; boundaries, 188, 189. 
See also, Orleans Territory. 
Louisville (Ky.), 103; military 

post, 73. 
Lower California, claimed by 
Spain, 4, 11. 

264 



cartographer, 



McClellan, Captain , trad- 
ing expedition, 184. 

Mackay, Alexander, companion 
of Mackenzie, 58. 

Mackenzie, Alexander, 92 ; organ- 
izes X Y Company, 54 ; passion 
for exploration, 55, 57 ; reaches 
Arctic Ocean, 56, 57 ; returns, 
57 ; in London, 57 ; seeks 
Pacific Ocean, 58-60; returns? 
60, 61 ; Voyages, 46, 56, 61. 

MacKenzie, Charles, fur-trader, 
128. 

Mackinac, French post, 30, 31 ; 
English post, 45, 47-49 ; head- 
quarters for fur-trade, 53, 194, 
195 ; Indian agent at, 218. 

McLean County (N.Dak.), Lewis 
and Clark in, 126. 

McLeod, General Hugh, captured 
by Spanish, 226. 

McNeal, Hugh, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111, 151, 175. 

McTavish, Simon, Canadian fur- 
trader, 52, 54. 

Madison, James, river named for, 
145, 146. 

Mail service, in far West, 245. 

Maldonado, , Spanish ex- 
plorer, 4. 

Mallet, , French explorer, 64. 

Mandan Indians, location, 115, 
126; physiognomy of, 33; 
visited by Verendrye, 32, 33 ; 
by traders, 109, 128, 176; by 
Lewis and Clark, 125-129, 131, 
182 ; by Thompson, 190. 



Index 



Manitoba, English fur-trade in, 
45. 

Many, Colonel James B. , explorer, 
225. 

Maps, drawn by Indians, 24, 28, 
63 ; of North America, 63, 67. 

Marbois. See Barbe-Marbois. 

Marcy, Captain R. B., explorer, 
249. 

Marquette, Father Jacques, 
French explorer, 23, 62; 
Journals, 62. 

Mather, Thomas, marks Santa 
Fe trail, 216. 

Maurepas, Jean Frederic Phelip- 
peaux, marquis de, French 
minister, 31. 

Maximilian, Alexander Philipp, 
Prince of Neuwied, Travels 
in North America, 220. 

Maxwell, , accompanies Fre- 
mont, 231. 

Meany, Prof. Edmund S., dedi- 
cates monument at Nootka 
Sound, 18. 

Meek, Joseph, in Yellowstone 
Park, 221. 

Mesaiger, Father Charles Michel, 
Jesuit missionary, 30. 

Methodist missionaries, in Ore- 
gon, 224. 

Mexico, Spanish in, 2-18 ; annexa- 
tion discussed, 234 ; withdraws 
from California, 240, 244; 
boundary of, 250. 

Michaux, Andre, French botan- 
ist, early life, 73-75; to ex- 
plore West, 73-78, 93, 96 ; in- 
structions for, 75-77 ; departs 
for Kentucky, 77 ; becomes 



Genet's agent, 77-79; later 

life, 79, 80. 
Middleton, Captain Christopher, 

English navigator, 43. 
Minitaree Indians, 146, 153, 177, 

178, 183. See also, Grosventres. 
Minneapolis (Minn.), site of, 48. 
Minnesota, French post in, 26. 
Missions, Spanish, in Southwest, 

13; in California, 14, 17; 

methods of, 14-16 ; French, 26. 
Missouri, Fur Company, Pilch- 

er's expedition, 219. 

— Indians, visit Lewis and 
Clark, 116. 

— River Indians, intertribal 
war, 73, 92, 134; trade de- 
sired, 93, 100 ; to be studied, 
100 ; feared, 110, 113 ; treaties 
with, 219 ; Maximilian studies, 
220. 

Moncacht-Ape, legend concern- 
ing, 65-67. 

Monroe, James, American en- 
voy, 82-85. 

Monterey (Cal.), missions at, 14 ; 
capital of California, 239, 240. 

Montezuma, Aztec chief, alleges 
existence of strait, 3-5. 

Monticello (Va.), Jefferson's 
home, 135. 

Montreal, English merchants at, 
44, 54, 67 ; captured, 46 ; Astor 
at, 194 ; fur-trade expedition 
from, 195. 

Moqui Indians, visited by Span- 
ish, 13. 

Mormons, in Utah, 244. 

Mosquitoes, wilderness pest, 56, 
119, 120, 142, 149, 176, 181. 



265 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



Mount Hooker, Boss Cox at, 218. 
Mulberry Hill, Clark's home- 
stead, 103. 

Napoleon, recovers Louisiana 
for France, 81, 89 ; desires colo- 
nial empire, 82; sells Louis- 
iana, 84. 

Narvaez, Panfilo, Spanish ex- 
plorer, 6, 7. 

Natchez (Mies.), home of Dun- 
bar, 199. 

Natchitoches (La.), limit of 
Southwest settlement, 199, 200, 
208. 

Nebraska, plains of, 202; In- 
dians, 200. 

New France. See Canada. 

— Galicia, Mexican province, 
10. 

— Mexico, 209; explored by 
Spanish, 6-10, 12, 13; settled 
by Spanish, 13; missions in, 
13 ; capital, 199 ; American 
spy in, 206; conquered by 
Americans, 241 ; mail service 
to, 245 ; railways through, 248, 
249. 

— Orleans, goal of Genet's in- 
trigue, 78 ; ceded to Spain, 81 ; 
retroceded to France, 81, 82; 
abandoned French expedition 
to, 82 ; key to Mississippi Val- 
ley, 82 ; American attempts 
to purchase, 83, 84 ; Spanish 
officers at, 88; transferred to 
United States, 89, 90. 

— Spain. See Mexico. 

— York City, fur-trade expe- 
ditions from, 195. 



Newman, John, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111, 125, 135. 

Nez Perces Indians, met by 
Lewis and Clark, 171, 172; 
reservation, 172. See also, 
Chopunnish. 

Nicolet, Jean, discovers Wiscon- 
sin, 4, 5, 22, 23. 

Nicollet, J. N., discovers source 
of Mississippi, 226, 227, 230. 

Niza, Marcos de, Spanish ex- 
plorer, 5. 

Nootka Sound, location, 18 ; epi- 
sode at, 18 ; Americans on, 21. 

North America, width, 22, 23, 
47 ; maps of, 63 ; controlled by 
British, 44 ; northern crossing, 
60 ; crossed by Americans, 161, 
190-192, 224, 225, 228, 236; 
by railways, 248, 249 ; spanned 
by settlement, 250-252. 

— Carolina, provincial governor 
of, 44. 

— West Company, formed, 52, 
53, 67; rivalry with X Y 

Company, 54 ; with Hudson's 
Bay Company, 53, 57, 128 
with Americans, 195, 196 
among Mandans, 128, 132 
employs Thompson, 190-192, 
195 ; unites with X Y Com- 
pany, 191 ; with Hudson's Bay 
Company, 209; employs Fraser, 
192; territory, 194,197. 

Northern Pacific Railway, 248. 

Northwest Coast, explored, 16- 
21 ; fur-trade of, 70, 165, 194, 
195. 

— Passage, origin of theory, 
1 ; sought by French, 2, 24 ; by 



266 



Index 



John Smith, 2 ; Hudson, 3 ; 

Spanish, 10-12; English, 10, 

16, 17, 41-44, 47; revival of 

interest in, 67. 
Northwest Territory (U. S.), 

Harrison's governorship, 186. 
Nuttall, Thomas, botanist, 224. 

Ochagach, draws map for Ver- 
endrye, 28. 

O'Fallon, Major Benjamin, In- 
dian commissioner, 219. 

Ohio, frontier posts in, 96. 

Oklahoma, crossed by Spanish 
explorers, 7. 

Omaha Indians, Lewis and Clark 
among, 116. 

— , stage line from, 213. 

Ofiate, Juan de, invades New 
Mexico, 13. 

Ordway, Sergeant John, accom- 
panies Lewis and Clark, 111, 
175. 

Oregon, visited by traders, 19, 
209 ; first white women in, 225 ; 
explored by Wilkes, 226 ; set- 
tlers in, 228, 229, 236; title 
undecided, 229, 230; a terri- 
tory, 230, 249; Fremont in, 
236, 240. See also, Lewis and 
Clark, Wyeth, and Whitman. 

Orleans, territory of, Indians in, 
199. See also, Louisiana. 

Osage Indians, location, 200; 
accompany Pike, 198. 

Oto Indians, visit Lewis and 
Clark, 116. 

Pacific Fur Company, or- 
ganized, 195 ; purchased, 196. 



Pacific Ocean, discovered by Bal- 
boa, 3 ; Spanish explorations 
of American coast, 3, 4, 10-12, 
16-18 ; sought by French, 22- 
36, 40 ; English on, 12, 16-20, 
58-60 ; reward for discovery 
of, 43 ; reached by Lewis and 
Clark, 161. 

Panthers, killed by Lewis and 
Clark, 148. 

Parke, Lieutenant J. G., gov- 
ernment surveyor, 249, 250. 

Pattie, James O., fur-trader, 220, 
221. 

Pawnee Indians, met by ex- 
plorers, 64,200, 201, 205, 212, 
213, 225. 

Peale's Museum, Philadelphia, 
Lewis and Clark's specimens 
in, 135. 

Pennsylvania, frontier posts in, 
96; Whisky Rebellion, 96. ^ 

Perez, Juan, Spanish explorer, 
16. 

Philippine Islands, Spanish in, 
11. 

Pike, Zebulon M., 251 ; early life, 

196, 197 ; explores Mississippi, 

197, 198 ; conciliates Indians, 
198 ; Southwest expedition, 
184, 200 ; among Pawnees, 201 ; 
among Rockies, 201-205 ; on 
Rio Grande, 205, 206 ; arrested 
by Spaniards, 206-208 ; sent 
home, 208 ; Journals, 204, 208. 

Pike's Peak, 203, 204 ; ascended, 
213 ; country of, 246, 247. 

Pilcher, Joshua, fur-trader, 219, 
220. 

Pilgrim Fathers, at Plymouth, 3. 



267 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



Pittsburg, Lewis at, 102, 105, 
106; Long, 211, 216. 

Polk, James K., remits Fre- 
mont's penalty, 241. 

Pope, Captain John, surveys rail- 
way route, 248. 

Portage la Prairie, French post, 
32. 

Portuguese, on Northwest Coast, 
20. 

Potawatomi Indians, hold cap- 
tive Osages, 198. 

Potts, John, accompanies Lewis 
and Clark, 111. 

Prairie dogs, seen by Lewis and 
Clark, 118. 

— du Chien (Wis.), explorers at, 
48, 197, 216. 

Preuss, Charles, accompanies 
Fremont, 231, 232. 

Prickly-pears, pest to explorers, 
142, 148. 

Pryor, Sergeant Nathaniel, ac- 
companies Lewis and Clark, 
111, 175, 176, 179. 

Pueblo (Colo.), 214, 248 ; Pike at, 
203. 

Puget Sound, explorations on, 
247, 249. 

Quadra. See Cuadra. 

Quatrefages de Breau, Jean 
Louis Armand de, French nat- 
uralist, 67. 

Quebec, capital of New France, 
27 ; English merohants at, 44. 

Quesnel, , fur-trader, 193. 

Radisson, Pierre d'Esprit, sieur, 
explorer, 37. 



Railways, routes for transconti- 
nental lines, 247-249. 

Rattlesnakes, on Missouri, 142 ; 
on Jefferson River, 150. 

Raynolds, Captain W. F., ex- 
plores Yellowstone Park, 249. 

Reed, M. B., deserts Lewis and 
Clark, 116, 117; returned to 
St. Louis, 111, 135. 

Reeves, Benjamin, marks Santa 
Fe trail, 217. 

Republicans, favor Louisiana 
Purchase, 86, 87. 

Review of Reviews, cited, 78, 88. 

Revue oV Anthropologic, cited, 67. 

Ricarees. See Arikaras. 

Rio Grande, explored by Span- 
ish, 10, 12; Pike on, 205, 
206 ; surveyed, 241, 250. 

River, Arkansas, French explor- 
ers on, 64, 65 ; Pike, 184, 198, 
201-204 ; Wilkinson, 202 ; Bell, 
215; Dodge, 225; Fremont, 
239; waterway to West, 246; 
colonists on, 203 ; sources dis- 
covered, 213-216; gorge of, 
214. 

— , Assiniboin, 28, 32, 53, 128, 
190 ; British posts on, 176, 181. 

— , Athabasca, Cox on, 218 ; Pil- 
cher, 220. 

— , Big Blue, Fremont ascends, 
231. 

— , Big Horn, Clark reaches, 180. 

— , Big Wichita, explored, 249. 

— , Bear, Fremont on, 236. 

— , Black, Dunbar and Hunter 
on, 199. 

— , Bois Brule, Allen and School- 
craft on, 218. 



268 



Index 



River, Brazos, explored, 249. 

— , Cache-a-la-Poudre, Fremont 
on, 236. 

— , Canadian, Long on, 215; 
Dodge, 225. 

— , Cannon Ball, Clark on, 135. 

— , Chippewa (Wis.), explored, 48. 

— , Churchill, British post on, 50. 

— , Clark, Lewis on, 181. 

— , Clearwater, Lewis and Clark 
on, 155-157, 171-173. 

— , Colorado, grand cafion of, 10 ; j 
explored by Spanish, 10, 31 ; 
missions on, 13 ; Pattie, 221. 

— , Columbia, width, 160 ; nar- 
rows, 159 ; cascades, 162 ; rap- 
ids, 170 ; mouth explored, 16, 
18, 19 ; named, 19 ; sources 
sought, 48 ; surveyed, 226 ; 
Lewis and Clark on, 157-161, 
169-171 ; explored by English, 
162, 191, 192, 195 ; Astoria on, 
195 ; Cox, 218 ; Bonneville, 222; 
Fremont, 236. 

— , Conejos, Pike on, 206. 

— , Coppermine, Hearne on, 50, 
55. 

— , Dubois, location, 107 ; Lewis 
and Clark winter at, 91, 108- 
110. 

— , Elk (Minn.), explored, 48. 

— , Fox (Wis.), Carver on, 47, 
48. 

— , Fraser, (Tacouche Tesse), ex- 
plored by Mackenzie, 59; by 
Fraser, 193. 

— , Gallatin, Lewis and Clark on, 
146, 179. 

— , Gila, explored by Spanish, 10, 
12 ; missions on, 13. 



River, Grand, fort near, 64. 

— , Green, Ashley on, 218; Pil- 
cher, 219. 

— , Hudson, supposed route to 
Western Ocean, 3, 41. 

— , Jacque, fur-trade on, 183. 

— , James, John Smith on, 2. 

— , Jefferson, named, 145; naviga- 
tion of, 147, 148, 150 ; forks of, 
149, 150; head, 179. 

— , Kansas, Lewis and Clark at, 
119 ; Fre'mont ascends, 231. 

— , Knife, Lewis and Clark at, 126. 

— , Lachsa, Lewis and Clark on, 
155. 

— , Leech, Pike on, 197. 

— , Lemhi, Lewis and Clark on, 
152-154. 

— , Lewis, Thompson on, 192. 

— , Little, Many at, 225. 

— , Little Platte, Fort Leaven- 
worth near, 219. 

— , Little Sioux (Petite River de 
Secoux), Lewis and Clark at, 
183. 

— , Mackenzie, discovered, 56. 

— , Madison, named, 145, 146. 

— , Maria, named, 143, 144 ; ex- 
plored, 175-177. 

— , Minnesota. See St. Peter' a 

— , Mississippi, heard of by 
Nicolet, 4, 5 ; explored by 
French, 2, 23, 41, 62 ; French 
post on, 26 ; Carver on, 48 ; 
free navigation desired, 83, 
188 ; military posts on, 106 ; 
explored by Pike, 197, 198; 
Long ascends, 216 ; source un- 
known, 100, 188, 190, 197; 
source explored, 218 ; source 



269 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



discovered, 226, 227,230; Eng- 
lish acquire source, 44. 

River, Missouri, source of, 151 ; 
forks, 143-146, 179; falls, 144, 
174-176 ; Indians, 32, 33, 146, 
190; known to whites, 137; 
difficulties of navigation, 112; 
114, 142, 178, 212 ; Spanish on, 
10 ; French, 26, 46, 63-65, 109 ; 
path to Pacific, 63-67, 92, 97 ; 
American explorations planned, 
72-78 ; Lewis and Clark on, 
109-152, 174-186; Astorians, 
195; Long, 211, 212; Ashley, 
219; Pilcher, 220; Warren, 
249 ; fur-trade posts, 221 ; early 
settlements on, 64, 76, 112, 115, 
210 ; emigration to, 203, 216, 
228, 244, 245. 

— , Ohio, Lewis and Clark on, 102, 
105-107 ; Long, 211 ; military 
posts, 106. 

— , Osage, Lewis and Olark at, 
119 ; Pike on, 200. 

— , Ottawa, Fraser on, 194. 

— , Pawnee, Wilkinson on, 201, 
202. 

— , Peace, Mackenzie on, 58, 60 ; 
Fraser, 191. 

— , Philanthropy, named, 150. 

— , Pigeon, route to West, 28, 49, 
53. 

— , Platte, empties into Mis- 
souri, 114, 211 ; flows from 
Rockies, 210 ; Indians of, 205 ; 
early explorers on, 64; Lewis 
and Clark at, 116, 119, 184; 
Long ascends, 212, 213 ; Fre- 
mont on, 236, 238; fur-trade 
posts, 221, 236 ; emigration to, 



203; waterway to West, 225, 
231, 246, 249. 

River, Potomac, supposed route 
to South Sea, 3, 41. 

— , Pullman's Fork, of Platte, 
Fremont on, 238. 

— , Rainy, Verendrye on, 28, 30 ; 
Long, 216. 

— , Red (North) ,191, 193, 216,220. 

— , Red (South), early explorers 
on, 199, 200 ; attempts to dis- 
cover sources, 184, 198, 204, 
211, 215, 216, 225, 226. 

— , Republican, Pike on, 200. 

— , Roanoke, supposed route to 
South Sea, 3, 41. 

— , Sacramento, explored, 226» 
236, 240, 244. 

— , St. Croix (Wis.), 48 ; Carver 
on, 48 ; Allen and Schoolcraft, 
218 

— , St. Louis (Lake Superior), 
Thompson on, 191 ; Allen and 
Schoolcraft, 218. 

— , St. Peter's (Minn.), ex- 
plored, 48, 216. 

— , Saguenay, Michaux on, 74. 

— , San Joaquin, Fremont at, 
238. 

— , Saskatchewan, 32, 35, 190, 
220 ; French post on, 35, 40, 
46 ; English explore, 46, 53 ; 
Thompson on, 191, 192. 

— , Savannah, explored by Mi- 
chaux, 74. 

— , Sioux, Lewis and Clark at, 
119. 

— , Slave, Mackenzie on, 58. 

— , Smoky Hill, emigration to, 
246. 



270 



Index 



River, Snake, Mackenzie on, 56 ; 
Methodist missionaries, 224. 

— , Spokane, explored, 226. 

. — , Tacouche Tesse. See Fraser. 

— , Teton, Lewis and Clark at, 
122. 

— , Turtle, Pike at, 197. 

— , Vermilion, Lewis and Clark 
at, 183. 

— , Walla Walla, Lewis and 
Clark at, 171 ; as a survey 
point, 226. 

— , Washita, Dunbar and Hunter 
at, 200, 216; Long, 211, 216. 

— , White, Lewis and Clark at, 
119. 

— , Willamette, early settlers on, 
224-226, 228. 

— , Winnipeg, Verendrye on, 31, 
32 ; Long, 216. 

— , Wisconsin, Carver on, 48. 

— , Wisdom, named, 150. 

— , Yellowstone, 178 ; mouth of, 
137; Lewis and Clark at, 
137 ; Clark on, 175, 176, 178- 
181 ; Ashley near, 219 ; recon- 
naissance of, 249. 

Robinson, Dr. John H., accom- 
panies Pike, 200 ; at Santa Fe, 
206 ; sent home, 208. 

Rocky Mountains, snow on, 168, 
172, 174, 204, 205 ; first seen, 
34; desire for path through, 
92, 191 ; crossed by Lewis and 
Clark, 155 - 157, 173, 174 ; 
Thompson, 191, 192; Fraser, 
193; Pike among, 203-205; 
Long visits, 213-215 ; crossed by 
Cox, 218 ; explored by Fre- 
mont, 232, 236-239, 241; crossed 



by early settlers, 225 , 228 ; 

passes generally known, 242, 

243 ; railway surveys, 248, 249 ; 

as boundary of Louisiana, 189 ; 

summer resorts of, 205. 
Rocky Mountain Fur Company, 

218. 
Rupert's Land, location, 38. 
Russia, explores Northwest 

Coast, 16, 17 ; Ledyard in, 70- 

72, 92. 
Russian Fur Company, Astor 

conciliates, 195. 

Sacajawea (bird woman), cap- 
tured, 146, 153 ; guide and in- 
terpreter to Lewis and Clark, 
111, 130, 146, 147, 153, 179; 
birth of son, 135 ; meets broth- 
er, 153 ; returns to Mandans, 
182. 

Sacramento (Cal.), Fremont at, 
242. 

St. Charles (Mo.), Boone settles 
near, 89 ; Lewis and Clark at, 
112, 185, 186. 

St. Clair, General Arthur, gov- 
ernor of Northwest Territory, 
73. 

St. Joseph (Mo.), emigration cen- 
ter, 245. 

St. Louis, Spanish at, 88, 107, 
212 ; surrendered to United 
States, 90, 91, 110, 112 ; visited 
by Lewis, 109, 110 ; fur-traders 
at, 109, 115, 183, 220, 221, 223 ; 
citizens of, 112; welcomes 
Lewis and Clark, 186 ; Pike's 
expedition from, 197 ; Fre'mont 
in, 232 ; mail service from, 245. 



271 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



St. Paul (Minn.), railway from, 
247. 

St. Pierre, Legardeur, French 
explorer, 35, 36, 40. 

Salcedo, , governor of Mex- 
ico, 208. 

Salish Indians, meet Lewis and 
Clark, 165. 

Salmon, as article of commerce, 
165, 170. 

Salt, made by Lewis and Clark, 
163, 164. 

— Lake City, railway route to, 
248. 

Salvatierra, Father , Jesuit 

missionary, 13. 
San Antonio, Mexican province, 

208. 
San Diego, missions at, 14. 
San Fernando de Taos, road 

from, 217 ; Kit Carson's home, 

231. 
San Francisco, missions at, 14 ; 

Americans, 245. 
San Jose (Cal.), railway from, 

249. 
San Luis Valley, Pike in, 205. 
Sand Hill pass, Pike on, 205. 
Sangre de Cristo Range, Pike 

crosses, 205. 
Santa Fe, 199, 217, 241 ; built by 

Spanish, 13 ; visited by French, 

64 ; trading expedition to, 184 ; 

Robinson at, 206; Pike, 207, 

208 ; caravan to, 226. 

— trail, 225, 233, 235, 245; 
Pike searches for, 205 ; sur- 
veyed, 217. 

Santo Domingo, French expedi- 
tion to, 82. 



Sault Ste. Marie, Henry at, 45 ; 
Long, 216. 

Schoolcraft, Henry R., explora- 
tions of, 218. 

Scotch, in fur-trade, 45, 127. 

Scott, General Charles, expedition 
of, 103. 

Sea-otters, on Columbia, 160. 

Seattle (Wash.), Post- Intelligen- 
cer, 18. 

Se'moulin, de, Russian am- 
bassador, coop«rates with Jef- 
ferson, 70. 

Serro, Father Junipero, Francis- 
can missionary, 14. 

Shannon, George, accompanies 
Lewis and Clark, 111, 121. 

Shelby, Isaac, governor of Ken- 
tucky, 77. 

Shields, John, accompanies Lewis 
and Clark, 111, 151. 

Shoshoni Indians. See Snake. 

Sibley, George C, marks Santa 
Fe trail, 217. 

— Dr. John, explores Red River, 
199. 

Sierras, crossed, 222; Fremont 
among, 236-239 ; railways over, 
248, 249. 

Sioux Indians, 176, 183, 197; fond 
of liquor, 122, 125; French posts 
among, 26, 30; massacre 
French, 31 ; English among, 
48 ; Dourion, 115, 117 ; visit 
Lewis and Clark, 117, 118; 
Clark's account of, 118; hostile, 
122, 123, 131, 135. See also, 
Tetons. 

— City (la.), Floyd dies near, 
117. 



272 



Index 



Sitka, Spanish explorers near, 
16. 

Six Nations (Iroquois), visited by 
Ledyard, 69. 

Smith, John, seeks South Sea, 
2. 

Snake (Shoshoni) Indians, 
sought, 146, 148 ; met, 151, 152 ; 
aid Lewis and Clark, 153, 154 ; 
feared by Columbia River na- 
tives, 159. 

South Pass, 218, 249; sought, 
210; discovered, 212, 213; 
Bonneville crosses, 222 ; Fre- 
mont, 231-233 ; missionaries, 
225 ; popular, 230. 

— Sea, sought by Spanish, 3, 
5 ; by French, 2, 5, 23. See 
also, Pacific Ocean. 

— West Company, organized, 
194. 

Southern Overland Mail Com- 
pany, organized, 245. 

— Pacific Railway, surveyed, 
248. 

Southwest Point, military post, 
106. 

Spain, interests in South Sea, 11 ; 
conquers Mexico, 2; explores 
Southwest interior, 2, 4, 10, 16 ; 
claims Lower California, 4, 11 ; 
explores Northwest Coast, 3, 
4, 10-12, 16-18; establishes 
missions, 12-16; in Missouri 
Valley, 64 ; possesses Louisi- 
ana, 68, 81, 94 ; cedes Louisiana 
to Napoleon, 81, 82, 88; denies 
navigation of Mississippi, 83 ; 
holds purchase of Louisiana 
void, 89. 



Spalding, H. H. , missionary to 
Oregon, 225. 

Spaniards, Clark's mission to, 
104; incite Indians against 
Americans, 201 ; arrest Pike, 
206-208 ; McLeod, 226. 

Spanish Peaks, seen by Pike, 203. 

Sparks, Captain , explorer, 

200, 206. 

Sparks, Jared, American Biog- 
raphy, 72, 

Spokane (Wash.), British post 
at, 192,196. 

Squirrels, on Missouri, 118. 

Stanbury, Captain H., explorer, 



tanp 
2& 



Steamboats, on Western waters, 

211. 
Steptoe, Colonel Edward J., ex- 
plorer, 249. 
Stevens, Isaac Ingalls, railway 

surveyor, 247, 248. 
Stockton, Commodore Robert F. , 

in California, 240, 241. 
Stoddard, Captain Amos, receives 

surrender of Upper Louisiana, 

90, 91, 112. 
Strait, Bering's, discovered, 66. 
— , Hudson, supposed route to 

Northwest Passage, 41. 
Straits of Anian, 63 ; discovered 

by Drake, 47-49. See also, 

Northwest Passage. 
Stuart, John, fur-trader, 192- 

194. 
Sublette, William L., fur-trader, 

221. 
Sutter, Captain John Augustus, 

in California, 236, 238. 
Swans (wild), on Missouri, 119. 



273 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



Tallbtband-Peeigord, 
Charles Maurice de, French 
minister, connection with 
Louisiana Purchase, 82, 83. 

Tennessee, settlements multiply- 
ing, 210. 

Teton Indians, annoy Lewis and 
Clark, 122, 123, 183. 

Texas Indians, missions among, 
13. 

— , crossed by Spanish ex- 
plorers, 7 ; acquired by United 
States, 87. 

Thompson, David, explorer, 189- 
192, 195, 196. 

— , John P. , accompanies Lewis 
and Clark, 111, 175. 

Thorn-trees, harass travelers, 
148. 

Three Rivers (Canada), Veren- 
drye from, 27. 

Thwaites, Reuben G., Jesuit Re- 
lations, 62. 

Tiger-cats, on Upper Missouri, 
142. 

Tobacco, on Lewis and Clark ex- 
pedition, 165, 183. 

Townsend, John Kirk, natural- 
ist, 224, 225. 

Treaties, of Greenville (1795), 
104; Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), 
244; Jay (1794), 188, 194; 
Paris (1763), 44, 81 ; Paris 
(1783), 188; St. Ildefonso 
(1762), 81, 82, 89; Webster- 
Ashburton (1846), 189, 230. 

Turkeys (wild), on Missouri, 118, 
119. 

Turner, Dr. Frederick J., " Cor- 
respondence of Clark and 



Genet," 78; " Significance of 
Louisiana Purchase," 78, 87, 88. 
Twisted Hair, Chopunnish chief, 
157, 171, 172. 

Union Pacific Railway, route 
surveyed, 213, 248. 

United States, northwest bound- 
ary of, 188, 189, 250 ; southwest 
boundary, 198, 199, 250 ; secures 
Oregon, 230; California, 240; 
Florida, 87 ; Louisiana, 90. 

Upper Louisiana, transferred to 
United States, 91, 109, 110, 
112. 

Utah, Mormons in, 244. 

Vaca, Cabeza de, Spanish ex- 
plorer, 6-8. 

Vancouver, George, English ex- 
plorer, 18, 20, 162. 

— Island, 18. 

Vaudreuil, Pierre Rigaud, mar- 
quis de, governor of New 
France, 24, 25. 

V^rendrye, Pierre Gaultier de 
Varenne de la, French ex- 
plorer, 40, 190 ; early life, 27 ; 
authorized to explore, 28, 29 ; 
first expedition, 29-31 ; chain 
of posts, 31, 32; searches for 
Pacific, 32, 33; death, 34. 

Verendrye, Pierre, chevalier de 
la, sees Rockies, 33, 34 ; ascends 
Saskatchewan, 35 ; dispos- 
sessed, 35. 

Vincennes (Ind.), 186; captured 
by Clark, 68. 

Vizcaino, Sebastian, Spanish ex- 
plorer, 11, 12. 



274 



Index 



Voorhis, Julia Clark, owns Clark 
manuscripts, 169, 187. 

Walker, I. R., explorer, 222. 

Walla Walla (Wash.), road to, 
249. 

War of 1812-15, effect on fur- 
trade, 196. 

Warner, Captain W. H. , explorer, 
242. 

Warren, Lieutenant G. K., ex- 
plorer, 249. 

Washington, George, subscribes 
for Western exploration, 75; 
opposes Genet's intrigue, 78. 

— (D. C), Indians at, 183, 198; 
Long, 212 ; Fremont, 230, 231,. 
234, 235, 241. 

— Territory, explorations in, 19, 
226, 247, 249 

— University State Historical 
Society, monument to Cuadra, 
18. 

Wayne, General Anthony, Clark 

serves with, 103, 104. 
Weippe Weeipe plain, Lewis 

and Clark on, 155, 156, 173, 

174. 
Werner, William, accompanies 

Lewis and Clark, 111. 
West Indies, discovered by 

Columbus, 1, 2; American 

trade with, 20. 
" Western Engineer," Long's 

steamer, 211, 212. 

— Ocean, sought by Hudson, 3. 
See also, Pacific and South 
Sea. 

Whipple, Captain A. W., sur- 
veyor, 248, 250. 



Whisky Rebellion, Lewis in, 96. 
Whitehouse, Joseph, accompanies 

Lewis and Clark, 111. 
Whitman, Marcus, in Oregon, 

225, 228. 
Wichita Range, Dodge at, 225. 
Wilkes, Charles, in Oregon, 226. 
Wilkinson, General James, com- 
missioner to Louisiana, 90; 

despatches Pike, 197, 198. 
— , Lieutenant James B. , accom- 
panies Pike, 200, 202. 
Willard, Alexander, accompanies 

Lewis and Clark, 111. 
William I, German emperor, 

decides boundary controversy, 

189. 
Williamson, Lieutenant R. W., 

surveys railway, 249. 
Wind River Range, seen by 

Verendrye, 34; Fremont in, 

232. 
Windsor, Richard, accompanies 

Lewis and Clark, 111. 
Winnipeg, French at, 32, 49, 53. 
Wisconsin, Indians of, 26; 

Nicolet in, 22. 
— Historical Society library, 68. 
Wiser, Peter, accompanies Lewis 

and Clark, 111. 
Wistar, Dr. Caspar, letter from 

Jefferson, 98, 99. 
Wolfe, General James, captures 

Quebec, 46. 
Wolves, on Missouri, 118, 119 ; on 

Yellowstone, 181. 
Wood, Maria, river named for, 

143, 144. 
Worrall, Lieutenant Stephen, 

escorts officers, 91. 



19 



275 



Rocky Mountain Exploration 



Wyeth, Nathaniel J., expedition 
to Oregon, 223-235. 

X Y Company, rivals North 
West Company, 64 ; absorbed, 
191. 

Yakon Indians, seen by Lewis 

and Clark, 165. 
Yankton Indians, fur-trade with, 

183, 198. 
Yellowstone National Park, 34; 



discovered, 182, 221 ; govern- 
ment expedition to, 249. 

York, Duke of, in Hudson's 
Bay Company, 37. 

— , negro servant of Clark, 107, 
111, 124, 134, 159, 175, 179. 

Yosemite Valley, discovered, 222. 

Young, Brigham, Mormon leader, 
244. 

Zuni Indians, visited by Span- 
ish, 13. 



(1) 



THE END 



276 



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